“Olympics remains an unfinished business” - Golfer Anirban Lahiri targets Paris Olympics 2024 spot
One of India’s top golfers Anirban Lahiri will be seen in the Indian Open, starting on March 28, Thursday in Gurugram. Though he has a very slim chance of making it to the Paris Olympics 2024, Lahiri will be giving his best in the Indian Open.
The 401st-ranked golfer Lahiri kept his chances of qualifying for the Paris Olympics in danger after switching to Saudi-backed LIV gold, which is not recognized by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
Notably, Lahiri won his last title in the same event nine years ago in 2015 and he would be eyeing to regain his form with a title win at the DLF Golf and Country Club. Speaking ahead of the campaign, the star golfer stated that he’s desperate to win the competition.
“You know the weight of, I don’t know how many dozens of seconds, I’ve had, lays heaviest on my shoulders. So I need to get that off my back. I want to win, I am desperate to win,” Lahiri said as quoted by Indian Express.
“The driver is I have to prove to myself that I can win again. It’s been a while and nobody feels that more than I do. So even though I’ve played 15, 16 years, I’m still as desperate to win this week as I was 10, 15 years ago, because I have to prove it to myself. I don’t have to prove it to anybody else,” he added.
Furthermore, he emphasized his intention to make it to the quadrennial event in Paris. The two-time Olympian would be eagerly hoping to improve his ranking and stand a chance to be above the cut for the mega event.
“I would love to go to Paris. So I need to focus on potentially eight rounds or 12 rounds that I have between now and Paris that will get me there. I will find those events on the Asian Tour, but it depends on a lot of variables. Olympics remains an unfinished business,” he stated.
Only 60 golfers can make it to the Paris Olympics 2024
Importantly, Lahiri currently holds the third position among Indian golfers in the rankings, trailing behind Shubhankar Sharma (202) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (240). Interestingly, only 60 golfers each in the men’s and women’s categories can qualify for the Olympics with the top 15 world-ranked players making the cut with a limit of four players from each country.
Among Indian golfers, Sharma (48) and Bhullar (52) are in the top 60 rankings, released by the International Golf Federation (IGF). With the cut-off date being June 17, Lahiri has a lot to do to accumulate enough ranking points to be inside the top 60.