JUMPING the gun on the International Golf Federation, the Asian Tour announced yesterday that Filipino Juvic Pagunsan and five tour regulars had earned slots to the Tokyo Olympic Games next month.
The Asian Tour tweeted the announcement that Pagunsan, together with Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino, Thailand’s Jazz Janewattanond and Gunn Charoenkul, Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe and Malaysia’s Gavin Green, have qualified for the men’s Olympic golf tournament.
All six golfers were in the top 60 list of the International Golf Federation Olympic qualifying rankings. The Lausanne-based world golf body was set to announce yesterday the golfers eligible to play in the quadrennial sports showcase.
Pagunsan stood at No. 50 in the rankings as of last Monday while Hoshino, Wattanond, Vincent, Charoenkul and Green were at Nos. 27, 36, 53, 54 and 58, respectively.
Pagunsan became the 13th Pinoy bet to the Tokyo Games, joining the ranks of pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, weightlifters Hidylin Diaz and Elreen Ann Ando, gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo, boxers Felix Eumir Marcial, Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio, Irish Magno, Margielyn Arda Didal, taekwondo jin Kurt Ryan Barbosa, Cris Nievarez and shooter Jayson Valdez.
Expected to join Pagunsan and the rest of the Philippine Olympic band shortly are fellow golfers Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan, who are Nos. 8 and 42nd, respectively, in the IGF Olympic women’ ratings. The women’s qualifiers will be announced on July 29.
It will be another milestone for Pagunsan, 43, a former national amateur standout and back-to-back Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in the 2001 Malaysia and 2005 Philippine editions of the regional meet.
