Bianca, Dottie at the Olympics

Add Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina to the growing list of Filipino athletes who will compete in the Paris Olympics.

The International Golf Federation (IGF) will include Pagdanganan and Ardina among the names of the 60 athletes who will compete in the women’s golf event of the Summer Games starting on August 7 at Le Golf National.

Pagdanganan is on the verge of booking a return flight to the Summer Games after finishing number 35, while Ardina also made it after finishing number 55 in the field of 60 women.

The final list will be announced on Tuesday.

It will be Pagdanganan and Ardina’s second Olympic qualification.

The 26-year-old Pagdanganan competed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics where she finished at No. 43 with an overall score of 1 over par 285.

On the contrary, her fellow Ladies Professional Golf Association campaigner Ardina was due to compete in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics but withdrew due to the threat of the Zika virus.

Meanwhile, Philippines-born Yuka Saso will also make it to the Paris Olympics after finishing sixth in the rankings.

Saso, who will represent Japan after changing her citizenship in 2022, lagged behind in the rankings but made a huge leap after winning the US Women’s Open early this month.

With the official qualification of Pagdanganan and Ardina, the number of Filipino athletes in the Summer Games will increase to 17.

Based on the Philippine Olympic Committee’s forecast, the number could rise to 24 pending the qualification of Kiyomi Watanabe of judo, and Kristina Knott, Lauren Hoffman, John Cabang and Robyn Brown of track and field.

Two athletes from swimming – Kayla Sanchez and Jarrod Hatch – will also be included through the universality spot – or a slot given by Olympic organizers to countries without qualifying tournaments in a core sport like swimming.