Nagarkoti grabs maiden title

POKHARA, DEC 27 - Bhuwan Nagarkoti clinched his maiden tour title with two-stroke victory over Surya Prasad Sharma in the final round of the Surya Nepal Western Open here at the par-70 Himalayan Golf Course in Pokhara on Friday.

The Gokarna Golf Club pro Nagarkoti, who never relinquished the lead from the opening round,shot two-under 68 for a three -day total of four-under 206 to win the fourth event held under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2014-15. With the maiden trophy, Bhuwan, previously known to the local golf ing circuit as Umesh, received a top prize of Rs 95,000.

The Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) pro Sharma also carded a 68 but finished second at two-under 208. Tribhuvan Army Officers Golf Club pro Dhana Thapa also carded 68 to finish third at two-over 212. Surya received Rs 60,000 and Dhana got Rs 44,000.

For the first time in three rounds, four golf ers were able to produce under-par card in the treacherous and demanding course with Nepal No 1 and the defending champion Shivaram Shrestha the best of the lot scoring four-under 66. Despite the excellent card, it was only enough for the top Nepali golf er to finish fourth at three-over 213.

Sanjay Lama of the Army Club ended up in fifth place at 219, while Jayaram Shrestha finished sixth at 220. Sanjeev Bahadur Nepali was seventh at 224, while Bhu Bahadur Gurung (225) and Rame Magar (227) claimed the eighth and ninth places respectively. Ramesh Nagarkoti and Dinesh Prajapati finished tied for 10th at 228.

Nagarkoti opened the final round two strokes ahead of Sharma but that lead was gone by the first nine holes. Nagarkoti shot even-par 35 on the front nine while Sharma caught up with the leader carding two-under 33. But in a reversal of fortunes, Nagarkoti shot two-under 33 and Sharma even-par 35. Nagarkoti parred all the first nine holes before playing two under in the back nine that included four birdies and two bogeys. Sharma, in the meantime, sank two birdies on the front nine before earning yet another shot at No 10. But his chances were reduced when he double bogeyed on the 11th and 13th. By the time he sank two more birdies on the 15th and 16th, Nagarkoti had the title within his grasp.

Arun Tamang shot seven-over 77 to win the Amateur title with a total score of 231. Kamal Thapa (79) was a distant second at 238. Dal Lama was third at 242. In all, 29 pros took part in the tournament organised by Nepal Professional Golfers Association. The tournament will conclude on Saturday with a Pro-Am tournament.

Nepali spinners world class: Raju

KATHMANDU, DEC 26 - Former Indian national team spinner Venkatapathy Raju has termed Nepali spinners as ‘world class’ bowlers as the ACC Development Officer arrived here on Thursday.

Raju is here to hone the skills of Nepali spinnersfor the upcoming ICC World Cricket League Division 2 tournament to be held in Namibia from January 17-24.

Along with Raju, former Sri Lankan fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake–also an ACC Development Officer–will assist Nepali cricketers for the all-important Division 2 tournament.

Raju said he is quite familiar with Nepali bowling and would like to see more of them during his week-long stay in Nepal. “I have seen Nepali cricketers bowl in Sri Lanka during their preparation camp for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers. There are world class spinners ,” said Raju who played for India in the 1992 and 1996 World Cups.

Raju and Ratnayake are here as a part of the ACC High Performance Programme. “Me and Rumesh will now remain here for few days and assist the Nepali cricketers to shape themselves up for the Division 2 tournament. We want Nepal to climb above the Division 2 and qualify for future ICC tournaments,” added Raju. The Division 2 tournament will send the top two teams into the ICC World Cricket League Championship and ICC Intercontinental Cup.

Raju is the first renowned Indian international to give specialized coaching to Nepali cricketers although a lot of prominent Indian players have come to Nepal. Once a leading spinner of India during the 1990s, Raju played 28 Tests for India picking up 93 wickets with his best figures of 6-12 coming against Sri Lanka. He has 63 wickets under his belt from 53 one-day internationals for India.

Nagarkoti grabs maiden title

POKHARA, DEC 26 - Bhuwan Nagarkoti extended his overnight one-stroke lead to two in the second round of the Surya Nepal Western Open golf tournament at the par-70 Himalayan Golf Course here on Thursday.

Nagarkoti was only one of the two pros to return with an under-par card on the second day at the punishing course. The Gokarna Golf Club pro Nagarkoti carded two-under 68 today for a two-day score of two-under 138. Two strokes adrift at even-par 140 was the Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) pro Surya Prasad Sharma. Sharma shot one-under 69 during the fourth event held under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2014-15.

Nagarkoti carded even-par 35 on the first nine that included birdies on the third and seventh against bogeys on fourth and ninth holes. On the back nine, he sank four birdies--on the 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th--against two bogeys on the 13th and 17th holes which ensured his lead on top of the standings.

Sharma shot two-under 33 in the first half but his one-over 36 in the latter half cost him the lead. Sharma dropped a shot on the second hole before sinking birdies on the 5th, 6th and 8th for the two-under first nine score. But he lost momentum in the back nine dropping a shot each on the 13th and 15th holes. His birdies on the final hole helped him close in on Nagarkoti to within two strokes going into the final round.

Dhana Thapa of the Tribhuvan Army Officers Golf Club was in the third at four-over 144 after a second round card of even-par 70. Shrestha brothers--Jayaram and Shivaram--shared fourth position at seven-over 147. Nepal No 1 and defending champion Shivaram carded even-par 70, while Jayaram played three-over 73. Nepal No 2 Rabi Khadka (74) and Sanjeev Bahadur Nepali (75) shared sixth position at 148 whereas Bhu Bahadur Gurung (71) and Sanjay Lama (78) were tied for eighth at nine-over 149. Ramesh Adhikari and Ramesh Nagarkoti were in a tie for the 10th place at 152.

Other pros making the cut for the money-making third and final round were Dinesh Prajapati, Rame Magar, Bikash Adhikari, Bal Bahadur Rai (Mani), Tham Bahadur Rai, Deepak Magar, Pashupati Sharma, Sachin Prasad Bhattarai, Rajendra Kumar Pradhan and Sabin Sapkota. The cut was applied at 24-0ver 164.

Arun Tamang leads the Amateur category after a two-round score of 154. Tamang carded three-over 73 on Thursday for a one-stroke lead ahead over Dal Lama, who also carded 73. Tanka Bahadur Karki was three shots behind Tamang at 157 after shooting nine-over 79. Other amateurs to survive the pro cut include overnight leader Sukra Bahadur Rai, Rajendra Shrestha, Sonam Bhujel, Kamal Thapa and Raju Rai.

In all, 21 professional and nine amateur golf ers made the cut for final round. Top three golfers will earn Rs 95,000, Rs 60,000, Rs 44,000 respectively.

Govt honours Div 3 champions

KATHMANDU, DEC 25 - The government on Wednesday honoured the national cricket team members who were part of the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 campaign with Rs 100,000 each.

Nepal had defended the Division 3 title on October 30 defeating Uganda by 62 runs in the final at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Nepal had also defeated Uganda in the final of the Division 3 in Bermuda last year.

Skipper Paras Khadka, vice-captain Gyanendra Malla, Sharad Vesawkar, Subash Khakurel, Basanta Regmi, Shakti Gauchan, Naresh Budhayer, Aarif Sheikh, Bhuwan Karki, Sagar Pun, Sompal Kami, Amrit Bhattarai, Binod Bhandari, Mehboob Alam were the part of the team that won the Division 3 tournament–Nepal’s fourth ICC title.

Coach Pubudu Dassanayake, technical analyst Raman Shiwakoti, team physiotherapist Dinesh Bhatta were also given cash rewards. Youth and Sports Minister Purushottam Paudel, Secretary Dipendra Nath Sharma, Joint secretary Chudamani Poudel, the government-formed ad-hoc committee of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) President Binay Raj Pandey and General Secretary Ramesh Silwal honoured the players and officials.

The government, however, missed to fete assistant coach Jagat Tamatta but joint secretary Poudel said it was a technical glitch. Poudel said the list of the 18 players and officials were sent without enlisting Tamatta by the suspended CAN. “He will soon be honoured,” said Poudel.

Division 3 team manager Deepak Saud–a member of the suspended committee of the CAN–was not honoured. The government had previously honoured the cricketers with Rs 350,000 when Nepal last won the Division 3 title in Bermuda.

Meanwhile, Minister Poudel informed that the government will reward the cricketers with one million rupees each if they win the Division 2 title in Namibia. Nepal are participating in Division 2 which will begin from January 17 to 24. Poudel informed that the decision to honour with one million rupees each has already been made in the recent Cabinet meeting. The government has honoured Nepali cricketers with one million rupees each when they qualified for their maiden ICC World Twenty20 in November last year. The award so far is the highest that the cricketers have received so far in terms of cash.