Golfer Siddikur Rahman became the first Bangladeshi sports personality to qualify for the Olympic Games after he was placed in 56th position in the final eligibility list for the Rio 2016 Games yesterday. The latest and final list, which is updated each week corresponding to world golf rankings, was updated late last night, confirming the 31-year-old’s participation in the Games, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from August 5 to 21. 

The updated list confirmed that the two-time Asian Tour winner will be the first Bangladeshi to participate in the Olympic Games through qualification as all the other athletes to have participated so far have done so through wild cards, provided to each national Olympic association by the International Olympic Committee to encourage participation for all countries. 

Siddikur was ecstatic after hearing the news of the confirmation of his participation. 

“This is a great honour for me as well as for the game of golf. I believe no other sportsman from the country ever took part in the Olympic Games through qualification before this. So I am honoured and glad that I will be representing my country through the game I play in Rio de Janeiro,” the 31-year-old golfer told The Daily Star last night. 

Having slipped out of the eligibility list in May, Siddikur stormed back into contention last month when he finished second in the prestigious Mauritius Open. Since then he has sounded confident about holding onto the position