Nikhil Kanetkar became the third Indian shuttler to qualify for the Athens Olympics after the Canadian Badminton Association failed to confirm the entry of two of their players for the event at the Games.
National women's champion Aparna Popat had received a direct entry while Abhin Shyam Gupta made the grade following the withdrawal of some players on May 31.
"It's great. It's dream come true for me," an elated Kanetkar said from the Sports Authority of India campus in Bangalore where he is training along with the other team members.
Kanetkar, ranked 49th in the world, was fifth in the reserved list when the first qualification list was announced by the International Badminton Federation on May 1.
On the basis of the world rankings as on May 1, a total of 172 players representing 30 National Olympic Committees qualified for the Athens Olympics for the five categories -- men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.
National Olympic Committees had until May 31 to confirm if the qualified players would be selected to represent their country after which the IBF was free to reallocate unused qualification places until the final entry deadline of July 21.
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