Best Indian Golfer Anirban Lahiri reserved its place at Tokyo Olympic Games as he placed 60th in the final Olympic golf rankings released on Tuesday.
Lahiri, former Asian n ° 1 and double winner of the European Tour, will play his second consecutive Olympic Games. A regular on the PGA Tour, he traveled to India with SSP Chawrasia at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The men’s golf event in Tokyo will feature 60 players and will be played at Kasumigaseki Country Club from July 29 to August 1.
Lahiri hasn’t had the best of seasons on the PGA Tour this year with just two top-10s in 16 starts and his FedEx Cup ranking being 118. His season was further hampered when he was hit by Covid-19 in late April and had to miss a series of events on the PGA Tour until mid-May.
Lahiri, whose current world rank is 340, was on the reserve list, being a third reserve at best for many players, until Tuesday when the updated Olympic golf rankings were released. Subsequently, with a number of strikeouts, Anirban, who has competed in 16 majors, managed to cross the threshold of the Olympics.
“Getting to the Olympics was a pleasant surprise. It’s a bit of a shock I would say because I knew I hadn’t done enough to qualify for the Olympics. I am delighted and my family too. When I had breakfast this morning I was not at the Olympics, now I am, “delighted Lahiri told PGTI.
Lahiri, however, said he was thinking a bit about whether he could compete in the Olympics.
“To be honest, after receiving the good news, I had to think about my participation in the Olympics as there are so many other factors involved including my full recovery from Covid and my current position in the FedEx Cup standings.
“I was broken down with severe symptoms of Covid in late April and early May and was even admitted to a hospital emergency room for about three hours. Even after recovering from Covid, I felt its aftereffects. So I have had to manage my workload for a while now. “
Lahiri also pointed out other factors.
“I also have a lot of work to do to keep my card on the PGA Tour as I haven’t had a good season so far. So, to play the Olympics, I have to plan my schedule and my travels and also find a lot of logistics, ”he said.
“But in the end, it was a quick and easy decision in favor of participating in the Olympics, because you don’t get such a fortune for no reason. I cherish every opportunity to represent India and I would never give up such a chance. The gods are definitely smiling at me. “
Lahiri said he would need to prepare well “to be at my best” during the event.
The Indian Udayan Mane is now a primary reserve for several players. If there are some specific player withdrawals over the next two weeks, it’s possible Mane could earn his place at Tokyo 2020 as well.
The men’s qualification system for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games began on July 1, 2018 and was initially scheduled to end on June 22, 2020, while the women’s qualification system was scheduled to run from July 8, 2018 to June 29, 2020.
However, following the postponement of the Olympics to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the IGF and the International Olympic Committee announced in April last year an adjustment to the qualification system where athletes would accumulate Olympic ranking points through June 2021. The year qualifying process for the men’s golf competition ended on June 21.
Read all the latest news, breaking news and coronavirus news here
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisaradio/YT6WLY5B3VEIPISMAUID6POGMM.jpeg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)