Kathmandu: Top Nepali golfer Sadbhav Acharya carded 6-under 66 to take two-stroke lead over Wangchen Dhondup on the first day of the 11th Nepal Amateur Open Golf Championship at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club on Tuesday.

The men’s individual category saw three players— Nepal’s Rahul Biswakarma, India’s Sumit Kotwal and Bangladesh’s Md Shahab Uddin — tied for third place at 2-under 70.

Nepal’s Prakrit Tamang and Reshan Algama of Sri Lanka shared sixth position at even-par 72. Tashi Tsering of Nepal, Dechen Lhendup and Nim Dorji Tamang of Bhutan and Vivaan Ubhayakar of India are tied for eighth position at 2-over 74.

Sadbhav took the turn at bogey-free 3-under 33 that included birdies on the first, seventh and eighth holes. He carded another 3-under 33 on the back nine. He faced the lone bogey at the par-3 13th hole and he carded four birdies on the 11th, 12th, 14th and 18th holes.

Wangchen also took the turn at bogey-free 3-under 33 after he carded birdies on the first, sixth and ninth holes. He carded two more bogeys on the 10th and 12th holes before dropping a shot on the 15th hole to settle for 1-under 35 on the back

In the men’s team event, Sadbhav and Rahul representing Nepal ‘A’ are on top with the total score of 8-under 136. Sadbhav carded 6-under 66, while Rahul carded 2-under 70.

They are 6-stroke ahead of Nepal ‘B’ comprising Wangchen and Tashi. Wangchen carded 4-under 68 and Tashi played 2-over 74 for a total score of 2-under 142.

Bangladesh team of Shofiqul Islam and Md Shahab Uddin are third at 3-over 145, followed by Bhutan (148) and Sri Lanka (150).

In the women’s individual section, India’s Ananthi Vivek carded 1-under 71 and took a 9-stroke lead over Nepal’s Tara Karki Chitrakar. Tara played 8-over 80. India’s Dia Cris Kumar is third at 84, followed by Nepal’s Anjila Yonjan (91) and Avanie Rai (94).

In the U-16 category, Ruben Thapa occupied top spot with the score of 8-over 80. He is 10 strokes ahead of Dipson Lama, who played 18-over 90. Dipesh Shrestha is third at 93.

A total of 57 players — 51 in men’s section, seven in women’s section and five in U-16 section – are taking part in the three-day tournament organised by Nepal Golf Association.

The team event winners will be declared after the second day, while the top 60 percent will make it to the third and final round in the individual category.