Shrestha, with a total of four-over 150, remained three shots ahead of Sanjay Lama, overnight leader CB Bhandari and Deepak Thapa, who shared the second position with a total of seven-over 153.[break]
Though Shrestha submitted a card of four-over 77 on Monday, he was able to remain on top of the leaderboard as other golfers faltered more. Shrestha carded even-par 73 on Sunday.
Lama, who carded 75 on Sunday, submitted a card of 78 on Monday. Overnight leader Bhandari, who carded one-under 72 on the first day, shot eight-over 81 on the second day. Thapa carded 76 and 77 respectively on the first and second days.
Shrestha suffered bogeys on the first, third and 16th holes. He faltered with a double-bogey on the 13th hole against the lone birdie of the day on the 14th hole.
Lama had a disastrous start on the second day as he suffered a triple-bogey on the first hole and a double-bogey on the fourth hole. He shot a birdie on the sixth hole but again suffered a bogey on the eighth hole to finish the front nine at five-over 42. Lama saved par on all the holes of the back nine.
Overnight leader Bhandari started with a birdie on the first hole but suffered bogeys on the fifth, seventh, ninth, 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th holes. He also suffered a double-bogey on the eighth hole.
Thapa suffered bogeys on the first, fifth and eighth holes against a birdie on the sixth hole to complete the front nine on four-over 41. He shot birdies on the 13th and 17th holes against bogeys on the 16th and 18th holes to complete the back nine on even-par 36.
Ram Baniya is in the fifth position overall and on the top among amateurs with a total of eight-over 154. Baniya produced the best card of the second day as he shot one-over 74 on Monday.
Pashupati Sharma (77) and Ramesh Adhikari (78) shared the fifth position at nine-over 155, while Umesh Nagarkoti (80) is seventh with a score of 11-over 157. Rabi Khadka (158), Ramesh Nagarkoti (160) and Surya Prasad Sharma (162) are in the top 10 going into the third and final round of the second tournament under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2012-13.
Dhana Thapa, Mani Rai, Yalamber Singh Adhikari, Deepak Acharya, Ram Thapa, Rajan Thapa, Ram Krishna Shrestha, Sachin Bhattarai, Deepak Neupane and Dhruba KC also made the cut for the final round.
In Amateur section, Baniya opened up a 10-stroke lead over Wangchen Dhondup. Wangchen is a distant second at 18-over 164 after a round of 11-over 84. Shankar Baniya (84) and Bikash Bogati (80) shared the third position at 165. Dinesh Prajapati, Sunil KC, Sanjeev CK, Kamal Tamang, Tirtha Paudel and Tashi Ghale survived the amateur cut.
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