The second event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2023-24, Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play, is kicking off at the Royal Nepal Golf Club on Wednesday.

Top 16 professional golfers in the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2022-23 Order of Merit are eligible to participate in the tournament. As four pros in top 16 have opted out of the tournament, players ranked up to 20 have been included for the first round.

Nepal number one Sukra Bahadur Rai, 14th-ranked Tanka Bahadur Karki, 15th-ranked Bal Bhadra Rai and 16th-ranked Kamal Tamang have pulled out of the event, citing personal reasons.

Number two pro in last season's Order of Merit, Bhuwan Nagarkoti, will be the top seeded golfer in the event, while number 17 Deepak Magar, number 18 Toran Bikram Shahi, number 19 Pradeep Kumar Lama and number 20 Ram Krishna Shrestha made it to the draw.

As per the Match Play draw, Nagarkoti will play against number 20 Ram Krishna Shrestha in the first round match.

Other matchups in the first round include third seed Niraj Tamang against 19th-ranked Pradeep Kumar Lama, defending champion Dinesh Prajapati (number four) against 18th-ranked Toran Bikram Shahi, and fifth-ranked Jayram Shrestha against 17th-ranked Deepak Magar. Sixth-ranked Sanjay Lama will compete against Shivaram Poudel (13th rank), seventh-ranked Rabi Khadka will face Ramesh Adhikari (12th rank), eighth-ranked Rame Magar will take on Surya Prasad Sharma (11th rank), and ninth-ranked Dhana Bahadur Thapa will face Bhuwan Kumar Rokka (10th rank).

The winners of the first-round matches will advance to the quarter-finals, scheduled for Thursday. Semi-finals will take place on Friday.

The first round, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and third-place matches will be played over 18 holes, while the final match will be contested over 36 holes on Saturday.

The tournament carries a cash purse of Rs250,000. Eight pros facing defeats in the first round will get Rs6,000 each, while four losing quarter-finalists will earn Rs11,000 each. Winner of the tournament will receive Rs60,000, while the runner-up will earn Rs42,000. Third and fourth placed pros will get Rs 32,000 and Rs 24,000, respectively.