Tokyo Olympics 2020, Form Guide: Tracking Indian golf contingent over last two years

Editor’s Note: For five years now, Indian athletes have been dreaming to make up for the disappointment of a two-medal haul in Rio. The span has been extraordinary, with COVID-19 having thrown their preparations – and the Olympics itself – off gear. However, in true Olympic spirit, the country’s finest sportspersons have battled form and uncertainty to put their best foot forward in what promises to be a Games like none other. In our latest series, we track the last two years’ performances of our athletes to give you a ready guide to their form leading into the biggest sporting spectacle of the world.

With the Tokyo Olympics fast approaching, Firstpost takes a quick look at the golfers that will represent India at the Games, and charts their journey towards securing Olympic qualification:

Aditi Ashok

Aditi Ashok will be competing at the Olympics for a second time, having already played in Rio de Janeiro when the event made a comeback at the Summer Games.

Ashok, India’s lone golfer on the LPGA Tour, was 45th in 60-player field when the list was announced. The Bengaluru-born golfer had finished 41st at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In 2018, when the qualification period began, she competed in 24 events and made the cut in 17 of them. In two tournaments, she finished in the top-10 including a career-best tied-6th at the Volunteers of America LPGA Texas Classic. She also tied her career-low round of 64 in the first round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

In 2019, she competed in 22 events, made the cut in 13 with a best result of tied-13th at the CP Women’s Open.

2020 was a challenging year owing to the pandemic. The 23-year-old missed multiple weeks in lockdown but worked on her game by practicing on the terrace. She competed in five tournaments through the year, making the cut only once for a tied-49th finish.

Coming into the Olympics, she made cut in all but three of her tournaments. Her best result came at the LPGA Drive on Championship where she shot a 1-under for a tied-23rd position on the leaderboard.

Anirban Lahiri

Anirban Lahiri finished tied fifth at the Albertson Boise Open in August 2019, with a bogey-free five-under 66 in the final round, just days after finishing tied seventh at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. These performances helped him accrue enough points to secure a PGA Tour card.

In November 2019, Lahiri tied 50^th in the RSM Classic, a tournament that is played in the autumn in Georgia, USA. Lahiri finished the tournament with two-over 70 and a total of six-under 276.

Heading into 2020, a lot of events planned for the first half of the year had to be put on hold or cancelled altogether due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a change of rules regarding qualification for Tokyo 2020. In April, the IGF and International Olympic Committee announced an adjustment to the system, which would allow athletes to collect Olympic Golf Ranking points until June 2021.

File image of Anirban Lahiri. Reuters

Lahiri enjoyed one of his best results on the PGA Tour when he finished tied 36^th at the Safeway Open, shooting a two-under 70 in the final round. He made the cut with a bogey-free seven-under 65 in round two, his best round in almost six years.

He then participated in the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship, a tournament on the PGA Tour which is played in the Dominican Republic. Lahiri finished tied sixth with a remarkable performance which included a third round of eight-under 64.

Lahiri almost won the Jeev Milkha Invitational golf meet in December 2020, only to be stopped at the final hurdle by Karandeep Kochhar. Kochhar and Lahiri were neck-and-neck after being tied at the end of the first two playoff holes, and for a while, it seemed like Lahiri would come out on top, but Kochhar upped the ante on the third hole and got the win.

Lahiri and his team then went on to win the Pro-Am event at the Tata Steel Tour Championship, which was held in Jamshedpur. Lahiri’s team was made up of amateurs Arjun Munda, Sanjiv Paul and Rajeev Chopra, and their score was 116, which just about beat out Rahil Gangjee and his team.

In January 2021, Lahiri finished tied-62 at the Sony Open, before failing to make the cut at both The Desert Classic and the Farmers Insurance Open. In February, Lahiri had a decent showing at the Puerto Rico Open, where he finished tied-39.

In March, Lahiri had a bit of a tough spell, as he failed to make the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players Championship or the Honda Classic. April began on a positive note for the golfer, as he finished in fifth place at the Texas Open, but he would go on to test positive for COVID-19 in the second half of the month, ruling him out of action for two weeks.

After failing to make the cut in three consecutive tournaments upon his return to fitness, Lahiri finished tied-25 at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree, shortly before he would earn the last available spot in the final Tokyo Games Rankings for men. Lahiri took the 60^th and final spot that was up for grabs, thus ensuring that he would compete at a second successive Olympic Games.

Udayan Mane

Udayan Mane’s finest moment of 2019 came at the TATA Steel Tour Championship in December, where his impeccable effort of seven-under 65 on the final day saw him clinch a memorable one-shot win. Mane saw off stiff competition from SSP Chawrasia, who he leapfrogged on the final day, as well as Aman Raj and Chiragh Kumar.

File image of Udayan Mane. Twitter@pgtofindia

Mane then went on to make it two PGTI titles on the trot when he won the Golconda Masters Golf Championship in February 2020. A clutch four-under 67 on the final day saw Mane take home the title with a two-shot margin. This was Mane’s second title at Golconda, with the first having come in 2018.

Mane’s run continued with a win at the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship 2020 just days later, where he successfully saw off Veer Ahlawat in a play-off victory to claim his 10th professional title.

Mane headed into the Bengal Open Golf Championship in March with a shot at setting a PGTI record of four consecutive titles. His performance of 67 on day 1 was decent, but with a strong second-day showing, Mane found himself in joint-lead, along with three other players. This situation persisted until the very end, as Mane was unable to shake of Aadil Bedi, with both golfers ending on 14-under 266, thus leading to a playoff. The two were neck-and-neck for much of the playoff, but Bedi eventually got the better of Mane in the longest-ever playoff in PGTI history.

Soon after his loss in Bengal, the COVID-19 pandemic would force the immediate suspension of sporting activity, thus stopping Mane’s bid to qualify for the Olympics. Like everyone else, Mane was confined to his home and starved of practice, resorting to using his garden to keep his technical skills sharp.

Mane only returned to competition in November of 2020, finishing third and then 14th at the PGTI Players Championship events in Chandigarh and Panchkula. Mane then took part in the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational, a tournament in which he finished 13th. In February 2021, Mane competed at the Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2021 and the Glade One Masters 2021, recording 14th and 29th placed finishes respectively.

He then went on to win another PGTI title at the Delhi-NCR Open 2021 in March, giving his ranking a major boost. Mane finally clinched his Olympic place after Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo withdrew from the Games on 24 June, making Mane the third Indian to qualify. Mane is currently ranked 372 in the world, and he’ll be hoping to move up a few spots with a good performance at the Olympics.