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) is set to include Pagdanganan and Ardina in the names of the 60 athletes who will see action in the women’s golf event of the Summer Games that starts on 7 August at the Le Golf National.
Pagdanganan is set to book a return flight to the Summer Games after being ranked No. 35 while Ardina also made it after being ranked No. 55 in the 60-woman field.
The final list will be released on Tuesday.
It’s going to be the second Olympic qualification of Pagdanganan and Ardina.
The 26-year-old Pagdanganan competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 where she finished at No. 43 with a total score of 1-over par 285.
On the contrary, her fellow Ladies Professional Golf Association campaigner, Ardina, was supposed to compete in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 but pulled out due to the threat of the Zika virus.
Meanwhile, Philippine-born Yuka Saso will also make it to the Paris Olympics after emerging sixth in the ranking.
Saso, who will represent Japan after changing her citizenship in 2022, was lagging behind the ranking but made a huge jump after winning the US Women’s Open early this month.
With Pagdanganan and Ardina’s official qualification, the number of Filipino athletes in the Summer Games will swell to 17.
Based on the Philippine Olympic Committee forecast, the number could jump to as high as 24 pending the qualification of Kiyomi Watanabe of judo, and Kristina Knott, Lauren Hoffman, John Cabang, and Robyn Brown of athletics.
Two athletes from swimming – Kayla Sanchez and Jarrod Hatch – will also be included through the universality place – or slot given by the Olympic organizers to countries with no qualifiers in a centerpiece sport like swimming.
