Thapa wins Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play

KATHMANDU, March 9: Ram Thapa won the title of the Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play at the Royal Nepal Golf Course on Wednesday. He defeated Mani Rai 3/2 in the final.



The 36-hole final began with both the players saving pars on the first three holes before Thapa went one-up on the fourth hole with a par putt when Rai hit a bogey. [break]Rai leveled the scores on the seventh hole with a birdie and took lead on the next hole with a par before Thapa settled the scores with a par putt.



After taking the turn with scores all square, Thapa won the next two holes to go two-up with a birdie and par putt respectively and never trailed for the rest of the match. Rai won the 12th, 14th and 18th holes, while Thapa dominated on the 13th, 16th and 17th holes as the latter finished the first 18 holes at two-up.



After the lunch break, it was Rai who took the initiative and brought down the scores to level by winning the 19th and 21st holes with birdies after Thapa suffered bogeys on both the occasions.



But Thapa was in no mood to give up and went three-up by winning the three of the next four holes and held on to the lead before taking the final turn after the completion of the 27 holes.



Thapa went four-up on the 28th hole with a birdie but Rai showed some signs of recovery winning the 30th hole but it was too late for him to make a charge with just six holes remaining. Thapa retained his four-hole lead on the 31st hole with a birdie and Rai pulled one back on the next hole with a par putt.



The match ended on the 16th hole of par-3 where both the players saved pars and Thapa cruised to victory -- three-up with two holes to go.





(Photo: Dipesh Shrestha)


With the victory, Thapa bagged his first career title and earned Rs 50,000. Runner-up Rai received Rs 30,000. Earlier, Deepak Neupane beat Shiva Ram Shrestha 1-0 to finish third.



President of Nepal Professional Golfers Association (NPGA) Rabindra Man Shrestha, Advisor and former president of NPGA Ghana Shyam Thapa and RNGC Tournament Committee President NK Rai handed over the prizes to the winners of the tournament organized by NPGA under the sponsorship of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd.

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