Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar earn the Paris quota for the men

India’s top-ranked golfer Shubhankar Sharma has qualified for the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the International Golf Federation announced in a press release on Tuesday.

Along with Sharma, Gaganjeet Bhullar will also represent the country in the men’s golf event. Sharma, ranked 219 in the world, qualified with an Olympic ranking of 48, while Bhullar (ranked 261 in the world) confirmed his place by finishing 54th in the Olympic rankings.

The Olympic event will feature 60 players each in the men’s and women’s events.

“It is a privilege and an honor to represent India at the Olympic Games,” Sharma said in a statement after his qualification was confirmed.

“It’s clearly a dream come true. I have been preparing for this day for some time now and plan my European Tour schedule accordingly.”

This will be an Olympic debut for both Sharma and Bhullar. While Sharma is a two-time winner of the DP World Tour (formerly known as the European tour), Bhullar is an 11-time Asian Tour champion and a silver medalist at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.

The qualifying period for the women’s event ends on June 24 and as it stands, Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar are well placed to make the cut for Paris. Ashok is ranked 24th while Dagar is ranked 40th in the Olympic lists.

Ashok made waves at the previous Olympic Games in Tokyo when she finished a historic fourth place in the women’s category. Sharma hopes something similar happens in Paris this time.

The men’s and women’s golf events will take place between August 1 and 10 and will be held at the Golf National course in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, on the outskirts of Paris.