Road to Rio: Experienced Anirban Lahiri leads India’s golf challenge at Olympics 2016

Name: Anirban Lahiri Age: 28 Discipline: Golf Category: Men’s Qualification: Anirban Lahiri made the grade for Rio as per the International Golf Federation’s rankings (based on the world rankings) for the Olympic men’s competition. S****trengths: Experience of playing on the PGA Tour has come in handy for the golfer and has fine-tuned his game. Playing in Majors has helped him become more focused and will help him play oot the field in Rio. Past Olympic performance: Debut Past record: - Won 18 professional titles, including two European Tour tournaments - Top ranked Asian golfer in the world at present - Silver medal for India at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha Rio Prospects: Anirban Lahiri is the top ranked golfer in Asia and will have a relatively easy field in Rio, owing to the mass pull out by top international golfers. He has the skill and experience to put in a medal-winning show, if he can maintain his form throughout the competition. [caption id=“attachment_2456960” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Anirban Lahiri. AP[/caption] Anirban Lahiri, often considered to be one of India’s best golfers, will represent the country at Rio Olympics 2016 after the sport made a return to the world’s top sporting competition after a gap of 112 years. Born in Pune, Lahiri took up the sport up as an eight-year-old and turned professional as a 20-year-old in 2007 after being crowned national champion on two occasions as an amateur. Inspired by the game of Tiger Woods and his extra-ordinary skills, Lahiri started training under his father, Dr Tushar Lahiri, a physician with the armed forces who played golf for recreation. He has won 18 professional titles, including two European Tour tournaments in the space of two weeks in 2015. “I would just go out there and I would go pick up golf balls for him, and we would go chip, putt for 15 minutes because it was getting dark,” Lahiri had said, recalling his early days in the sport in an interview with  The New York Times. Today, Lahiri is the top-ranked Indian golfer with a world rank of 62. After five wins on the Asian Tour, starting with the Panasonic Open in 2011, Anirban secured a European Tour card through Qualifying School in 2014. Within weeks he was a two-time champion, with a stunning 10-under-par third round of 62 helping him to take the Maybank Malaysian Open title in February, according to his official website.   Lahiri will be spearheading India’s campaign at Rio. He has been plying his trade on the PGA Tour this season, and has 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. In 2015, 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. Lahiri recently played his ninth successive Major, at the British Open at Royal Troon in Scotland. Lahiri will now turn his attention to the Rio Olympics as he seeks to bring glory to the country by winning a medal. “I think the focus will shift to Rio immediately after the major season. I have been getting information on the course and likely conditions and what I have heard has been positive. I am certainly looking forward to a great Olympic outing for India and hopefully we can come back with a medal," he told  Deccan Chronicle. It will be huge ask for the Indian golfer to scale the podium in Rio, but like the other major tournaments, Lahiri is certain to make India proud with his performance. With inputs from agencies