India's S Chikkarangappa, who gave himself a very good shot at joining the elite Asian Tour faltered narrowly to finish 41st here today as only the top-40 went through to earn full Asian Tour playing rights for 2014.
The former Indian amateur champion, who had a great third round of four-under 67 to move to tied 24th, had a poor start on the final day of the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage.
He bogeyed the first two holes to fall onto the borderline. A third bogey on ninth messed him up, but the gutsy youngster who has done well on domestic Indian pro tour, fought back with birdies on the 12th and 15th. When he came to the par-5 18th, he was four-under for the tournament and lying tied 34th.
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But on a hole he had birdied on second and third days, he dropped a bogey and fell to tied 41st. Chikka will however be eligible to play the Asian Development Tour, which offers World Ranking points and from where top-3 earners get to following years Asian Tour.
India's other youngster Khalin Joshi, who also made the cut, shot 72 and finished tied 66th.
Japan's Akinori Tani won the Qualifying School Final Stage after Lam Chih Bing of Singapore surrendered in the play-off on Saturday.
Tani, a two-time winner in Japan, shot a one-under-par 70 but the story of the day belonged to Lam, who returned with the day's lowest score of 64 at the Springfield Royal Country Club.
Knowing that he had done enough to earn a Tour card, Lam decided to forfeit the play-off without hitting a single shot as he rushed home to celebrate the birthday of his daughter.
Filipino veteran Cassius Casas, Hamza Amin of Pakistan, Lionel Weber of France, Nicholas Cullen of Australia, Poom Saksansin of Thailand and Wolmer Murillo of Venezuela were among the 40 players who also earned a Tour card for 2014.
All Qualifying School entrants will be eligible to compete on the burgeoning Asian Development Tour (ADT), which has become a career pathway for professionals to hone their skills and gain experience before entering into the premier Asian Tour.
