Siddikur set for lengthy lay-off

Bangladesh's premier golfer Siddikur Rahman is set to miss a number of upcoming Asian Tour events due to persistent lower back pain which has previously kept him out of action for the past two and a half weeks. The 29-year-old golfer is currently undergoing physiotherapy treatment at a Dhaka clinic due to pain in the lumbar vertebrae (L 4- L5) after the pain forced him to withdraw from the Omega European Masters in Zurich in the first week of September.

 “I'll be out of action for at least another one and a half months which means I will be missing quite a few events due to the persistent back pain. Doctors have suggested me to take complete rest and undergo regular physiotherapy rather than prescribing any medication,” said Siddikur when contacted yesterday.

Back pain, which is quite a common complaint for golfers around the world, first forced Siddikur out of an event in Russia which he was willing to participate in, in June this year. Since then Siddikur had undergone physiotherapy over the last three months before leaving for Zurich for the Omega Masters. He did well there at the Pro-Am event but after the first round of the main event, Siddikur withdrew complaining of an aggravation of the back pain.

“The physiotherapist there in Zurich overstretched my back, which did more damage to it. Now I'm in complete rest and I hope to be back in action once I completely recover,” said Siddikur.

Since the start of the second half of the Asian Tour season, Siddikur has already missed two events and is likely to miss five more even if he fully recovers and gets back to action by the start of November.