Randhawa hopes to be ready for Qatar

Jyoti Randhawa's love for bikes once again landed him in hospital, but the champion golfer was fine and hoping to be ready for the two-million-dollar Commercial Bank Qatar Masters starting here on Thursday.

Coming fresh from a superb sixth place finish in Abu Dhabi at the weekend, the former Asian Tour number one took time off on Monday to enjoy a safari romp but bruised his left forearm and ribs after falling off from a four-wheel bike.

Randhawa took Tuesday off to rest his sore muscles and is optimistic of fully recovering to challenge the likes of defending champion Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn in the Qatar Masters, jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

"I was trying to come off a sand dune and gassed it too soon and fell off. The x-ray showed everything was okay except for some bruised muscles. I didn't practice today to give it a rest and I should be okay."

Randhawa was involved in a more serious road mishap in 2002 when he, driving a 1000cc bike in Delhi, met with an accident and ended up with a serious fracture.

Also in the Qatar field are four other Indians — Shiv Kapur, Rahil Gangjee, Jeev Milkha Singh, and Gaurav Ghei.

Also in the field are Jeev Milkha Singh, who is coming all geared up after a tied second place in Pakistan Open last week. He was tied second with fellow golfer from Chandigarh, Amandeep Johl.

"I am feeling good and hope to do well here in Doha," said Jeev.

All the Asian Tour's leading lights will also be gunning for glory in Qatar including last season's Asian Tour number one Thaworn Wiratchant, two-time Asian number one Thongchai Jaidee and China's Zhang Lian-wei.

Randhawa said rising playing standards on the Asian Tour is clearly reflected with more Asian players featuring regularly on leaderboards worldwide.

Last week, Thongchai and Zhang finished tied 13th in Abu Dhabi, a European Tour-only event, and Randhawa is confident one of the Asians can storm to victory in Doha.

"Asian golf has come of age. In the last 10 years, players have become good and we are getting more players in the top-10s, which was hardly the case previously," he said.