Udayan Mane makes Olympic!

Udayan Mane has become the eighth player of the Asian Tour to earn a coveted place in the elite 60-man field for the upcoming summer Olympics ‒ which was announced yesterday by the International Golf Federation.

The Indian star had been on the reserve list but moved into the top-60 on the Olympic Ranking following the withdrawal of Argentine Emiliano Grillo.

“After being a certainty at one point last year, the rankings have been coming down and I couldn’t do much because I had no events to play. It was almost depressing, but I stuck to practice and workouts,” said the 30-year-old Bengalurean.

He was the leading Indian qualifier last year and seemed set to clinch a trip to Tokyo alongside countryman Rashid Khan, but then came the pandemic, the Olympic Games were postponed and their playing opportunities became fewer by the week.

India’s Anirban Lahiri, the Asian Tour’s 2015 Order of Merit winner, secured his spot in the Olympics a few weeks ago, also thanks to player withdrawals. Lahiri competed in Rio in 2016 and finished in 57th place.

The other Asian Tour players set to compete are: Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino, Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and Gunn Charoenkul, Juvic Pagunsan from the Philippines, Zimbabwean Scott Vincent and Gavin Green from Malaysia ‒ who also played in Rio.

The Olympics start on July 23 with the golf tournament being played from July 29 to August 1, at Kasumigaseki Country Club, Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture.

Spaniard Jon Rahm topped the Olympic Ranking thanks to his sensational victory in the US Open at Torrey Pines last month.

Ends.

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