IOA president N. Ramachandran presents Olympic kit to Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel

IOA president N. Ramachandran presented Olympic kit (non playing) to Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel in New Delhi on July 14, 2016.

Photo: PIB

Lahiri – Chawrasia duo to represent India at Rio Olympics

New Delhi, July 12, 2016: It’s official now. The duo of Anirban Lahiri and SSP Chawrasia will be representing India at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next month, as golf makes its return to the quadrennial sporting extravaganza after 112 years.

With July 11, 2016, being the cut-off date for Olympic qualification, Lahiri and Chawrasia have made the grade for Rio as per the International Golf Federation’s rankings (based on the world rankings) for the Olympic men’s competition.

Reigning Asia No. 1 Anirban Lahiri (world rank 62) and reigning Indian Open champion SSP Chawrasia (world rank 207) were placed 20th and 45th respectively in the International Golf Federation’s (IGF) ranking list which was updated at around 2100 hrs Indian Standard Time on July 11, 2016. The two Indians have now officially sealed their places in the elite field of 60 players.

Md Siddikur Rahman (world rank 308), a two-time Asian Tour winner, was placed 56th in the qualification list and will therefore represent Bangladesh at the Rio Olympics. He will be the third PGTI member, after Lahiri and Chawrasia, to earn a ticket to Rio.

Anirban Lahiri, a winner of seven international titles, will be spearheading India’s campaign at Rio. Anirban, who has been plying his trade on the PGA Tour this season, had enjoyed an exceptional season in 2015 with two wins on the European Tour and a phenomenal tied fifth finish at the PGA Championship, the best result for an Indian at a Major till date.

Last year, Lahiri also created history by becoming the first Indian to be a part of the International Team at the Presidents Cup. He has had a long spell in the world’s top-50 in 2016 and had all but sealed his Olympic berth at the start of the year. Anirban will be playing his ninth successive Major when he tees it up at the British Open at Royal Troon in Scotland this week.

Interestingly, the Rio Olympics will be Lahiri’s second outing at a quadrennial multi-sporting event. He had earlier participated at the 2006 Doha Asian Games where he was part of the Indian team that won the silver medal.

While speaking to PGTI on Monday, after confirmation of his qualification for the Olympics, a confident Anirban said, “Olympian Anirban Lahiri sounds good, but Olympic medalist Anirban Lahiri would sound way better.”

This is what Lahiri posted on his twitter handle on Monday: Shots fired!!! @OlympicGolf here I come.

SSP Chawrasia, a winner of four international titles, including three on the European Tour, notched up a long-awaited victory at the Indian Open earlier this year that propelled him into contention for the Olympics. Chawrasia will make a formidable pairing with Lahiri as both the golfers have been at the top of their game in the recent past.

On his Olympic qualification, Chawrasia said, “I’m extremely excited about having the honour to represent my country at the Olympics. It’s a major career milestone for me. I’m looking forward to teaming up with my good friend Anirban in Rio. My total focus for the next three weeks is to practice and prepare for the Olympics as I want to give it my best shot.”

As per the current IGF ranking list for the Olympic men’s competition, India will be one of 24 nations to have more than one player in the field. There are a total of 17 participants from Asia who will be representing nine different countries. Both Anirban and SSP will be playing their first ever event in the continent of South America when they appear for India at Rio.

Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, Director, PGTI, said, “We’re excited about the prospect of seeing two of India’s top professionals Anirban Lahiri and SSP Chawrasia competing at the world’s biggest sporting event. Anirban and SSP have both been great ambassadors for Indian golf over the years, both on and off the course. We’re confident that Anirban and SSP will once again make India proud with their performance at the Olympics. We’re also proud of the fact that PGTI member Md Siddikur Rahman will be representing Bangladesh in the elite field. We wish Anirban, SSP and Siddikur all the best for the Rio Olympics.”

Lahiri and Chawrasia will be part of India’s largest ever contingent at the Olympics which consists of a total of 120 athletes.

While the Olympics will be held from August 5 – 21, 2016, the men’s golf competition will be staged at the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro from August 11 – 14.

Press release

Motivated Sharath, Mouma too book Rio berths

 Achanta Sharath Kamal 

Sharath and Mouma Das

New Delhi, April 16: Brushing aside his four-year-old London disappointment and the third-place finish in the South Asia Zone qualifiers just a  couple of days ago, Achanta Sharath Kamal fought his way back well in the decisive final round contest in Hong Kong’s Queen Elizabeth Stadium to grab the second men’s slot today.

At the Asian Olympic Games Qualification tournament’s Stage 2 men’s singles event, the Indian defeated Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan 4-3 (12-14,11-6,3-11,7-11,11-4,11-7,11-6), much to his own relief and that of his teammates for whom he has been an iconic player.

Sharath, who made his first Olympic appearance at Athens in 2004, will be at the Riocentro in Barra da Tijuca, the table tennis venue, in August in the company of Soumyajit Ghosh, Manika Batra and Mouma Das, who also made her first Olympic appearance at Athens.

A maximum of two players per National Olympic Committee is allowed to compete in both the singles event at the Games. And, for the first time, India will be represented by a full four-member squad at Rio.

Testing contest

After spending a relaxed night following his tough win over Saudi adversary Ali Alkhadrawi, Sharath knew it was going to be a testing contest against the 25-year-old Alamiyan. His pre-match calculations proved right as Sharath was down 1-3 after the fourth game and all hopes of his third appearance at the Games seemed dissipated.

“When I was trailing 1-3, my mind was all about the next match that I will have to play if I lose this one. If I had lost, I would have to play against Jiang Tianyi (of China) and I’m not fit because of my back injury,” admitted Sharath.

It was then the 34-year-old Indian brought to the fore his grit and experience and putting them together went on a rampage. Unable to withstand Sarath’s combination drives—his backhand worked very well today—the Iranian wilted under pressure as the Indian went from strength to strength to win the next three games.

“My back is totally plastered and I’m in pain everywhere, I couldn’t afford to lose and play one more match,” said Sharath. “I seemed to have lost my motivation but in the fifth game I made a good start and the tide changed, I started to dominate the match.”

Talking on his first and fourth games, Sharath said: “In the first game, I was up 8-5 and lost 14-12. That put more pressure on me. In the fourth, I was 6-2 up and lost eight points in a row. Those games made a big difference and if I had won them, it would have been an easier match. But, of course, if it was easy it wouldn’t have been fun.”    

Incidentally, this was Sharath’s fifth win over Alamiyan and the Indian rated this as a huge one. “After all, this was Olympic qualification and this would be there at the top of all my wins against him,” said a completely drained out Sharath.

Never-say-die Mouma

Despite losing her final round in the morning to North Korean Ri Myong Sun in straight games of 3-11, 9-11, 10-12, 5-11, Mouma had her chance in the losers final. And, as expectd, the 32-year-old did not disappoint. She defeated Rimma Gufranova of Uzbekistan 4-1 (11-13, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7, 12-10) to book one of the two Games slots.

For Mouma, it will be her second Olympics as she had first competed in the singles event at Athens along with Sharath in 2004.

“Though I was a bit nervous, I knew I can beat my opponent. After the first game got extended, I was more determined. But she was really good and challenged me at every stage. The win in the third game was crucial and despite losing two match points in the fifth, I was sure I am close to clinching the berth,” said the five-time national champion and the most capped Asian in world championships.

President of the Table Tennis Federation, Prabhat C.Chaturvedi, in his congratulatory message to the paddlers wished them well for the Olympics. “We are really proud of your achievements. You have taken Indian table tennis to new heights. You proved it during the world championships at Bangkok in February and now again in Hong Kong. These are good sings, indeed,” said Chaturvedi in his message to the team members.  

TTFI Press release and photographs 

Ghosh, Manika book Rio Olympic berths

 Ghosh and Manka with coach Bhawani Mukherjee

New Delhi, April 14, 2016: Soumyajit Ghosh and Manika Batra booked their Rio 2016 Olympic Games berths when they emerged winners of their respective groups last night in the Asia Olympic Games Qualification tournament in Hong Kong.

With no other countries from the region participating in the South Asian Zone qualification event, the competition was restricted to the Indian paddlers alone and the four players in each section had to play again one another to grab a spot each.

Ghosh, keeping a clean slate and having won against Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj and Harmeet Desai, topped the group to go through while Manika and K. Shamini had two wins each. However, Manika edged out Shamini having beaten her in the group match.

It was a bit of a shock as Sharath managed just one victory—he beat Harmeet Desai 11-6, 11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 11-5—but Ghosh (11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7) and Anthony Amalraj (7-11, 4-11, 11-9, 9-11, 18-16, 11-6, 11-7) won their respective matches against the ace Indian.

Impeded by injury and with lack of movements hampering him, Sharath was not at his best. On the other hand, Ghosh apart from winning against Sharth, he accounted for Harmeet (11-6, 11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 11-5) and Amalraj (11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7).

Manika started very badly losing the opening contest to Pooja Sahasrabuddhe 7-11, 9-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-5, 7-11, but recovered well to down Shamini (4-11, 11-9, 11-3, 15-13, 8-11, 11-9) and Mouma Das (11-5, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6).

Shamini beat Mouma Das 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5 and then Pooja 11-9, 11-6, 11-2, 13-11. But what hurt her chances badly was the loss she suffered to Manika in the second group match.

Sharath still has a chance

Yet, all is not last for Sharath who will be competing in the main Asian qualifiers which begin after the conclusion of other Zone qualifiers. With other Zones throwing up winners, he would have a reasonable field to compete against in Hong Kong. But for Mouma, who too is participating, it will be difficult for her to make the Olympic cut.

But Sharath, whether or not he makes the grade in the Hong Kong event, the Indian should automatically qualify for the Games based on his Olympic rankings which the ITTF will release in the first week of May after all qualification tournaments end this month.   

Photo and release:TTFI