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BENGALURU: Having had a sensational run on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour (LPGA) and the Ladies European Tour (LET) this season, Aditi Ashok will lead India’s charge at the Asian Games golf competition (Sept 28-Oct 1) in Hangzhou.
With five top 10s on the LPGA and three on the LET, including a victory in the season-opener, the 25-year-old Bengalurean is looking forward to keeping her run going for the rest of the season, including at the quadrennial event beginning in a week’s time.\
Aditi leads a three-member women’s team — the 16-year-old amateur Avani Prashanth and Pranavi Urs being the other two. Interestingly, all three are from Karnataka. The ace golfer feels that her game is in a good place and a medal cannot be ruled out.
“I have worked so hard on my game that if I play to my potential, it is good enough to win in almost any tournament I play,” Aditi told TOI.
“It depends on managing the conditions or the course that week. The idea is to put four good rounds together and I am sure I will have a chance, but the key is to figure out the course and the weather and the conditions and adjust quickly and then hopefully the golf part will get easier.”
A household name following her heroics at the Tokyo Olympics, where she missed a medal by a whisker, Aditi said she would approach the Asian Games like any other pro event and there would be no added pressure of playing in India colours.
“How I approach the event doesn’t change much. That has been the same throughout my career, especially as a professional. In the Olympics, it is just a golf tournament and four rounds for me. But the added fact that the whole country would be watching your sport and it is not just for you and your game, may help me to perform better,” she said.
With five top 10s on the LPGA and three on the LET, including a victory in the season-opener, the 25-year-old Bengalurean is looking forward to keeping her run going for the rest of the season, including at the quadrennial event beginning in a week’s time.\
Aditi leads a three-member women’s team — the 16-year-old amateur Avani Prashanth and Pranavi Urs being the other two. Interestingly, all three are from Karnataka. The ace golfer feels that her game is in a good place and a medal cannot be ruled out.
“I have worked so hard on my game that if I play to my potential, it is good enough to win in almost any tournament I play,” Aditi told TOI.
“It depends on managing the conditions or the course that week. The idea is to put four good rounds together and I am sure I will have a chance, but the key is to figure out the course and the weather and the conditions and adjust quickly and then hopefully the golf part will get easier.”
A household name following her heroics at the Tokyo Olympics, where she missed a medal by a whisker, Aditi said she would approach the Asian Games like any other pro event and there would be no added pressure of playing in India colours.
“How I approach the event doesn’t change much. That has been the same throughout my career, especially as a professional. In the Olympics, it is just a golf tournament and four rounds for me. But the added fact that the whole country would be watching your sport and it is not just for you and your game, may help me to perform better,” she said.
(AI image)
“It will be cool to have that many more fans as many would follow the sport, especially in the Asian Games where India has a chance to win a lot of medals. People who don’t follow golf, follow the sport in the Asian Games as they do at the Olympics. But I try not to think about it too much.”
This will be the second Asian Games for the four-time winner on the LET.
Aditi took part as a 16-year-old at the Incheon Games in 2014 as an amateur. The Olympic Council of Asia’s (OCA) decision to open the doors for golf pros to compete at the Asian Games — where only the amateurs took part since the sport made its debut in 1982 — has given Aditi another chance to add another feather to her cap.
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