Dharan Red beat YSC Birgunj

Post Report

DHARAN, Dec 19 – Pravesh Katuwal’s golden goal ushered Dharan XI (Red) into the quarter-finals of Budha Subba Gold Cup football tournament as they edged past Youth Sporting Club of Birgunj by 2-1 on Wednesday.

Katuwal changed the Dharan fortunes in the sixth minute of the extra-time through a brilliant 25-yarder. He hardly wasted any time as Surendra Tamang, after clearing the
whole of the midfield single handedly, passed the ball just metres away from the penalty area of the oppositon.

Earlier, after failing to convert seven corner kicks, Dharan finally got into the lead as Milan Shrestha converted the eighth one to take his team into the driver’s seat 24 minutes into the second half. It was Katuwal, hero for his team later on, who had taken the corner.

Hardly a minute had passed since Dharan got into the lead and hardly the fans jubiliation had ended that the Youth Sporting Club leveled the score at 1-1. Rajesh Pun’s brilliant goal in the 25th minute of the second half silenced the supporters. Pun, who had entered the field just seven minutes earlier as a substitute, found the net from outside the penalty area after receiving it from his skipper Ritu Shakya.

Even though match went to Dharan (Red) – both the teams were – more or less, evenly matched throughout the contest. While the team from Birgunj relied more on the longer passes, Dharan boys were content with short passes. Dharan players were just a notch ahead of the Youth Sporting players in speed.

As there was little to choose between the teams as far as the skill display was concerned, most of the second half and later part of the first half of the match saw the teams concenterating more on defence. Nijamuddin Hawari, the Birgunj goalie showed remarkable skills standing up against the Dharan forwards. His acrobatic saves were warmly received by the fans. Much of credit goes to Hawari for pushing the match to the extra-time.

Suraj Khaling was declared man of the match for his performance on the day. Binod Gauro received a warning from the referee Madhusudan Khanal.

Rupandehi XI will take on Jhapa XI on Thursday.

Thapamagar takes charge of pros, Bhandari remains at top

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Dec 19 – Deepak Thapamagar and Ramesh Nagarkoti, put a fine exhibition of exquisite putting throughout at the Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) on Wednesday each carding 5 under par 62, the best score in the ongoing fourth Carlsberg Nepal PGA Championship golf.

The penultimate day of the tournament, being organised by Gorkha Brewery Ltd in conjuction with RNGC and NPGA witnessed Thapamagar play an error free golf with two birdies at the front nine followed by three more on the return.

After completing first three pins at par, he produced a birdie at the par five 4th hole and a six-iron enabled him to go for another birdie at the 6th for 2 under par 31 at the front nine.

Thapamagar, the tournament’s defending champion, went even better in the second nine, firing birdies at 10th,14th and 16th that put him at the top of the leaderboard with 4 under par 197, a handy three-stroke-lead over Purna Sharma going into the final round on Thursday.

Sharma who held the pole position coming into third day played consistently but his card of one under 66 was no match to the brilliance of Thapamagar. After starting with a bogey at the first hole, he amended mistakes to register two consecutive birdies at 3rd and 4th only to see them go astray as he missed a par shot at the 7th. However, he bounced back through birdies at 12th, 14th and 16th holes while dropping only one stroke at the par three 15th hole to remain second in the table at one under par 200.

Meanwhile, Ramesh Nagarkoti, starting the day from the fifth place, was equally impressive with his approach shots and meticulous putting. He fired three birdies, two of them coming back to back at 4th and 5th followed by another at 9th that enabled him to return the best figure for the front nine – 3 under par 30.

The best card of the day too was very much on when he returned to the second nine, immediately producing three consecutive birdies at 10th, 11th and 12th. Only a rare mistake at the 17th hole put paid to his effort. But 5 under par 62 aided him to gain two places up to the third place with even par 201.

Among amateurs, C B Bhandari may not have returned with a card he would have liked – 2 over 69 but rest of the pack fared even worse allowing him to stretch the lead. He closed the day at 3 over par 204 for a 16-stroke lead over his nearest rival Mani Rai, who finished the third round at 9 over 76. Deep Basnet made up three places to move into third with a 7 over 75.

Result after third round:

Professionals: 1. Deepak Thapamagar (67+68+62=197), 2. Purna Sharma (69+65+66=200), 3. Ramesh Nagarkoti (69+70+62=201), 4. Sabin Sapkota (70+67+69=206), 5. Radheshyam Thapa (68+73+66=207), 6. Toran Shahi (66+73+69=208), 7. Deepak Acharya (68+70+74=212), 8. Pashupati Sharma (70+72+71=213), 9. Umesh Nagarkoti (72+73+79=224), 10. Uttam KC (79+76+75=230), 11. Deepak Neupane (79+78+75=232), 12. Sachin Bhattarai (77+88+70=235). 13. Ghanashyam Thapa (78+89+76=243).

Amateurs: 1. C B Bhandari (68+67+69=204), 2. Mani Rai (74+70+76=220), 3. Deep Basnet (74+75+75=224), 4. Yelambar Adhikari (74+73+78=225), 5. Raj Pradhan (71+75+81=227), 6. Tashi Ghale (81+78+77=236), 7. Puskar Rajbahak (77+77+84=238), Ang Tshering Sherpa (82+80+76=238), Dhruba KC (80+85+73=238), 10. Shivaram Rajbahak (81+80+82=243), 11. Sanjaya Lama (77+89+80=246), 12. Shyam Gautam (78+83+86=247), Suman Sapkota (83+84+80=247).