Golfer Siddikur Rahman has qualified for the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf in Melbourne from November 21-24, 2013 and is set to become the first Bangladeshi to ever play in the prestigious US$8 million event.Siddikur, who is currently playing at the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open in Osaka, was excited by the news.
‘I’m very excited to represent Bangladesh in the World Cup. This will be the first time that Bangladesh will feature in the World Cup and it’ll be an historic moment. I’ve played in the qualifiers before but have never made it into the event proper, so this is just great,’ he said.
‘It will have a great impact for my country. Golf is getting more popular and people do recognise me along the streets back home and I feel proud to be the flagbearer for golf in my country. There’s no shortcut to success. Hard work and more practice will only make me a better player and that is what I strive to do every day,’ added Siddikur, who is currently 17th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
‘It is fantastic to see that Siddikur has qualified for the World Cup which is a first ever by a Bangladeshi. I am hopeful that his participation at Royal Melbourne will generate a lot of interest on him in Australia and also back home in Bangladesh,’ said Asian Tour Chairman Kyi Hla Han.
This will be the 57th World Cup, which has seen all of the greats of the game, like Snead, Hogan, Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, Faldo, Ballesteros, Langer, Woods, Els and Montgomerie, lift the prestigious trophy.
Siddikur is one of 13 Asians to qualify for the event this year. He became the first man to win on the Asian Tour at the 2010 Brunei Open and has since established himself on the circuit by finishing in the top-10 of the Order of Merit in 2010 and 2011 and 17th last season.
Meanwhile, Siddikur finished Friday in a tie for 25th, seven strokes behind leader Pariya Junhasavasdikul, at the Ibaraki Country Club after his second consecutive even-par round proved more than enough to make the +3 cut and qualify for the weekend.
-With New Age input
