Siddikur Rahman was back in contention of qualifying for the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after the ace Bangladeshi golfer returned back to top-60 place of Olympic rankings on Tuesday. Siddik is now in 54th position in the Olympics rankings after finishing second in the tri-sanctioned AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on Sunday. Despite losing to Korean Jeunghun Wang, the 31-year-old golfer climbed 132 places to move up to 274th position from 406th position in the world rankings.
Siddik, who is 10th in the Asian tour Order of Merit, was happy after watching his Olympics dream was reignited with a strong showing.
‘This is a good boost for me on my world ranking,’ Siddik was quoted as saying by Asian Tour website.
‘Hopefully I can get back in the running for the Olympics. I will take the positives from here. I am looking forward to the rest of the season and hopefully I can cap a good year.’
A total of 14 Asian Tour members are currently on track to qualify for the Olympic Games with less than two months remaining in the qualifying race.
Players will have time until July 11 to jostle for tickets to Rio to celebrate golf’s return into the Olympic Games after a lapse of over 100 years.
With only one Asian Tour event scheduled before the cut-off date, Siddik has a little chance to slip out of the top-60 list.
Only a terrible performance in the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taipei, Taiwan, scheduled from June 30 to July 3 could cost him a place in Olympics.
If Siddik qualifies finally, he will be the first Bangladeshi to get a place in an Olympics in his own right.
Bangladesh is sending athletes in Olympics regularly since 1984 with the wild-card provided by International Olympic Committee and other international bodies.
-With New Age input
