An Indian has a shot at finishing on the podium of the golf event at the Tokyo Olympics with the 23-year-old Aditi Ashok starting the final round on Saturday as part of the leader group.
She finished the third round on Friday at 3-under 68 to be placed second with a total score of 12-under 201. She was three shots behind leader Nelly Korda of the United States who is currently ranked number one in the world.
Aditi Ashok is being caddied by her mother at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
(Photo: PTI)
Who is Aditi Ashok?
Aditi is ranked 200th in the world at the moment and plays on the American LPGA tour.
She started playing golf at the age of five in Bangalore. While no member of her family played the sport, Aditi realised her love for it because they used to visit a restaurant which overlooked a driving range. Her curiosity led to her parents gifting her a baby putter and they all started playing the game as a family.
Almost two decades later, she is at her second Olympic games.
Aditi competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics as the youngest player in the field. She made a strong start to her campaign, featuring in the top 10 of the leaderboard after the first two rounds but went onto eventually finish at the 41st spot.
“Last time I think it was more just enjoying the experience and staying at the village, seeing all the other athletes,” said Ashok before the start of her campaign in Tokyo, “but this time I think definitely here to have a good finish, hopefully give my best, try and win a medal.”
Aditi Ashok, of India, makes a putt on the 15th hole during the first round of the women's golf event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday
(Photo: PTI)
Where Does She Play Golf?
Aditi is a three-time Ladies European Tour (LET) winner, and her first professional title was the Hero Women's Indian open.
Earlier this year, Ashok suffered a setback when she visited India for visa requirements and ended up staying for a lot longer than anticipated due to her testing positive for COVID-19.
Due to this there was no way for her to practise and she ended up missing two months of the Meijer LPGA classic tour.
“I think overall I am playing good this year,” said Ashok, “it’s just hasn’t shown because I had two months off without golf and so that kind of led to some missed cuts. But I think I’ve been playing good and the Olympics is just, I guess it is coincidence, but it was also kind of falling in, falling in line because I played good at Michigan, so that was just a couple weeks ago.”
The event in Michigan was a team tournament and Aditi Ashok and her teammate Pajaree Anannarukarn finished third.
Ashok had suffered a few setbacks due to her brush with COVID. Her driving distance has suffered leaving her 15 yards short of the tee, but she more than makes up for it with her accuracy in putting as well as her driving accuracy.
Ashok also has an interesting relationship with her parents who travel with her on tour. Her father mostly caddies for her, as was the case in Rio 2016. This time, however, her mother is the one caddying for her as Ashok had promised her mom she would get a chance to do so next time.
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