Confident Udayan Mane wants to make lucky golf debut at Tokyo count
Ahead of his Summer Games debut, Udayan Mane feels the pressure of an Olympics is not unmanageable. He is picking up tips to deal with it.
It has been an exhilarating few weeks for Udayan Mane.
The Indian golfer initially found himself on the reserves list for the men’s competition at Tokyo Olympics.
On June 24, Argentine golfer Emiliano Grillo announced that he had pulled out of the Games. It allowed Udayan Mane - who was first reserve for Grillo - to make the cut for the main draw. The confirmation finally arrived last Tuesday.
The Olympics may be one of the world’s most high-profile events and daunting for some, but Udayan Mane is more relieved to get back on the course.
“Finally, I get a tournament to play!” Udayan Mane told Olympics.com. He last played a competitive tournament in March when he won the Delhi-NCR Open on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).
“The Olympics just happens to be one of the biggest tournaments ever with the best players. Honestly, I do feel nervous at times but it is also an opportunity to play and rub shoulders with the best from around the world and learn as much as I can,” the golfer stated.
The Anirban Lahiri factor
One of the senior pros that Udayan Mane will be playing alongside is compatriot Anirban Lahiri, who has qualified for his second Olympics after Rio 2016.
It helps that the two have known each other for a long time, having trained under the same coach Vijay Divecha and played together on the PGTI Tour. Udayan Mane considers Anirban Lahiri, 34, an elder brother.
“The only one I personally know in Tokyo will be Anirban. I will be relying on him to walk me through the first two or three days of practice there. After that, it’s up to me how well I do,” said the 30-year-old Mane.
“We have regularly been on the phone since the news came in,” he added. “I mostly talked about what to expect, what the atmosphere will be like and how to prepare better.”
Udayan Mane has since been working on his mobility and focusing more on rotational exercises to get into the rhythm.
Japan’s perfect golf conditions
The Tokyo Olympics will be Udayan Mane’s second outing in Japan - after the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy.
That trip, and chats with fellow pro Rahil Gangjee, who has played on the Japan Golf Tour and is in Japan currently, have allowed Udayan to get a feel of what the conditions could be like at the Kasumigaseki Country Club, where the golf competition takes place.
“Japan has mostly tree-lined courses like India with perfectly manicured greens and you want to play in golf courses with immaculate conditions like that. I think I can adapt well,” reckoned Udayan Mane.
With regular caddie Rupesh Pardesi on the bag, Udayan Mane hopes to perform as best he can, but he is unburdened of the pressure of expectations.
“I have played for India at the Asian Games and the Eisenhower Trophy so I know the pressures of playing for your country. I try not to think about it much, at the end of the day, the Olympics is just any other tournament that I will try to give my best at,” Mane stated.
The journey to Tokyo will begin on July 23 for Udayan Mane, when he will fly out with Pardesi and fellow golfer Chikkarangapa - who will caddie for Anirban Lahiri - for company.
The men’s golf competition will begin on July 29.