Dinesh Prajapati successfully defended the title of the Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play, the second event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2023-24, at the Royal Nepal Golf Club on Friday.

Third seed Prajapati defeated fourth seed Jayram Shrestha 6&4 in the 36-hole final to claim his second career title. Prajapati had finished second behind amateur golfer Sadbhav Acharya in the season opening event, Surya Nepal Central Open, last month.

In the final, Shrestha took 1-up lead after the first nine holes. The two players were all-square after 18 holes. But Prajapati took the lead with a birdie from 30 yards on the 19th hole and the two finalists halved the next three holes. Prajapati was 2-up after he won the 23rd hole and the pros halved the next four holes.

Prajapati extended the lead to 3-up on the 28th hole with a par. After sharing the 29th hole, Prajapati won the next three holes to complete the victory with four holes remaining. Along with the trophy, Dinesh received a cash prize of Rs60,000, while Jayram earned Rs42,000.

Earlier, seventh seed Rame Magar defeated ninth seeded Bhuwan Kumar Rokka 1-up on the final hole to finish third. Magar got Rs32,000, while fourth-placed Rokka bagged a purse of Rs24,000. Rokka had upset Dhana Bahadur Thapa in the first round and top seed Bhuvan Nagarkoti in the quarter-finals.

Four losing quarter-finalists, Pradip Kumar Lama, Rabi Khadka, Sanjay Lama and Bhuvan Nagarkoti walked away with Rs 11,000 each, while eight pros who faced defeats in the first round, Ram Krishna Shrestha, Dhana Bahadur Thapa, Deepak Magar, Shivaram Poudel, Ramesh Adhikari, Toran Bikram Shahi, Surya Prasad Sharma and Niraj Tamang took Rs6,000 each.

A total of 16 pros took part in the tournament organised by Nepal PGA.