Never off course – Ainil fights on for Tokyo ticket

Golfer Ainil Johani Bakar (pic) has not given up hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics.

The 30-year-old believes the fight is on again after the world’s biggest multi-sport event has been rescheduled to July 23-Aug 8 next year.

In light of the one-year delay because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Olympics qualification period to determine the 60-player field for men and women competitions has also been extended to June 28 next year.

Ainil is now ranked No. 816 in the Women’s World Golf Rankings (WWGR) and will need to be among the top 400 to make the projected 60-woman cut.

Currently, world No. 385 Kelly Tan is the only Malaysian on course to qualify. She’s No. 59 in the Olympics rankings.

It may sound daunting, but Ainil, a one-time Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT) winner, believes she can do it.

Ainil will re-launch her qualifying bid once the Ladies European Tour (LET) resumes with the Ladies Scottish Open from Aug 13-16 next month.

“If all goes well, I plan to return to

Europe in August. I’m going to play in a few LET and LET Access Series (LET developmental tour) events there,” said Ainil.

“Although I have regained my LET card through the qualifying school in January, I have not been able to play in any tournament yet since the Tour started in February. I could not make it for the season-openers in Australia because of visa issues and then the virus pandemic stopped all sport events.

“So I’m excited to get back on tour. As a professional golfer, that’s what I do for a living.

“Also, there’s the Olympics qualifying and I really wanted to give it a shot. Holding cards in these two tours in Europe provides me with ample opportunities to gain world ranking points. A couple of good results can boost my ranking and put my Olympics dream back on track.”

After struggling in the past two years, Ainil is convinced that she’s not far from regaining the form she enjoyed in 2016.

She bagged the LET Access Series’ Finnish Ladies Open for her biggest career title that year.

“I lost a bit of confidence with my driver last year, so that kind of pulled my game down,” said Ainil, who also competes on the China LPGA (CLPGA) Tour.

“The Covid-19 suspension was a perfect time for me to work on my game. I’ve got my confidence back, surely things are going to get better.”