Himmat, Muniyappa among 16 Indians in Asian Tour qualifying

Former Asian Tour winners, Himmat Rai and C Muniyappa will lead a strong contingent of 16 Indian golfers at the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage, which starts tomorrow.
The Indian golfers will be among 223 hopefuls vying for the much sought after Asian Tour cards.
The Suvarnabhumi Golf and Country Club will be the host venue, where final stage will be played over four rounds. After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the leading 80 players and ties who will then play a further two rounds.
At the conclusion of 72 holes, the leading 35 players and ties will be ranked accordingly for 2017 Asian Tour season.

Apart from Himmat and Muniyappa, the Indians looking for a card include Khalin Joshi, Honey Baisoya, Ajeetesh Sandhu, M Dharma, Udayan Mane, Ashok Kumar, Sujjan Singh, Deepender Singh Kullar, Gaurav Pratap, Veer Ahlawat, Aman Raj, Manu Gandas, Abhijit Singh Chadha and Arjun Prasad.
"I've been playing well on the local Tour in India and I'm looking forward to doing the same on the Asian Tour. I hope to do well at Qualifying School this week. Winning the Indian Open in 2009 was definitely the highlight of my career. It was unfortunate I had a back injury which cut short my playing time and progress for about one and a half years. It's better now and I really want to get back to the winner's circle," Muniyappa said.

"I feel all it takes is one win again and I'll be able to come back really strong all over again. This golf course is very challenging with lots of bunkers and water hazards. So it'll be important to avoid all of them," he added.

There are players from 30 countries including Venezuela, Poland, Colombia and the United States. Among the notable entrants are Australia's Richard Green, England's Steve Lewton and Malaysia's Ben Leong. Some former Tour winners include Australia's Rick Kulacz and David Gleeson, Thailand's Arnond Vongvanij, Udorn Duangdecha and Chawalit Plaphol.
This year's Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage will present one of the toughest tests to all those seeking their playing rights on the region's premier Tour for the season.

Leong is coming into the week with a rich vein of form, having won five consecutive events on the domestic circuit, while Green is looking for a return to competitive golf at the highest level after missing out on his playing rights in Europe by the slightest of margins last season.
Lewton, who won his Asian Tour title at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters in 2014, is already bracing himself for a stressful week. Muniyappa is hoping to make up for lost time by regaining his status on the Asian Tour.
More than 500 entries were received for the Qualifying School, which comprised two stages -- the first and the Final.

The first stage included two sections at the Windsor Park and Golf Club (Course A and B) and Suvarnabhumi Golf and Country Club (West and North courses) from December 28 to 31, 2016 and January 4 to 7, 2017.
As many as 85 players made the cut and progressed to the Final Stage which will be played at the Suvarnabhumi Golf and Country Club this week. The top-35 players and ties following the conclusion of 72 holes will subsequently earn playing rights on the region's premier Tour in 2017.