Golfer Udayan Mane set for Olympics debut in Tokyo
Udayan Mane is set to replace Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo after the latter pulled out of the Olympics.
Indian golfer Udayan Mane is in line to join compatriot Anirban Lahiri at the Tokyo Olympics next month.
Udayan Mane was ranked outside the top-60 in the ‘Olympic Golf Rankings’ and was named in the reallocation reserve list. He will be the first replacement for Argentine golfer Emiliano Grillo - the No. 26 in the leaderboard.
Grillo, on Thursday, announced that he would be pulling out of the Tokyo Olympics. The development means Udayan Mane is likely to make the cut for the men’s golf competition in Japan.
Before the Tokyo Olympics was delayed by a year due to the pandemic, Udayan Mane was inside the top-60 in the Olympic Golf Rankings. However, with hardly any competitions on the Asian Tour and Indian Tour, he slipped outside the cut-off mark.
Owing to Grillo’s withdrawal, the 30-year-old Mane now finds himself with another chance to make his Olympic debut.
“I am thrilled and I hope the official communication comes soon,” Udayan Mane told PTI.
“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,” he added.
Udayan Mane represented India at the 2014 Asian Games and turned pro in 2015.
The Indian golfer won two titles on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) as a rookie in 2015 - the first rookie to do so.
Another Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar is still in the reallocation reserve list for the men’s competition.
Among the women, Aditi Ashok is set to feature in her second Olympics as she is ranked 44th in the Olympic golf rankings while Tvesa Malik is among the reserves in the women’s competition. The top-60 as of June 29 will gain direct entry to Tokyo 2020.