Agony for Aditi as Medal Narrowly Eludes Her

Tokyo, Japan: Aditi Ashok agonisingly missed out on an historic medal in women’s golf at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, but her performance was celebrated at home with tributes led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind.

The 23-year-old Ashok fought bravely throughout the final round at Kasumigaseki Country Club, shooting a closing three-under 68 to finish one shot shy of a podium finish with a 15-under 269 aggregate.

American world number one Nelly Korda took gold on 17-under 267 after a 69, with Mone Inami securing Japan’s first medal in golf, claiming the silver after defeating New Zealand’s Lydia Ko at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off after both tied on 16-under.

Ashok, who had her mother, Maheshwari, on caddying duties, was a picture of confidence and calm as she stayed in the medal hunt throughout a thrilling final round and had a couple of birdie chances to join the play-off, narrowly missing putts on the 17th and 18th holes.

Soon after play concluded, Indian Prime Minister Modi tweeted: “Well played @aditigolf! You have shown tremendous skill and resolve during #Tokyo2020. A medal was narrowly missed but you’ve gone farther than any Indian and blazed a trail. Best wishes for your future endeavours.”

Indian President Kovind also posted a congratulatory tweet. “Well played, Aditi Ashok! One more daughter of India makes her mark! You have taken Indian golfing to new heights by today’s historic performance. You have played with immense calm and poise. Congratulations for the impressive display of grit and skills.”

Ashok, the lone Indian on the LPGA Tour, rued missed opportunities. “Yes, 17 was perfect. I hit it exactly the speed I wanted, the line I wanted. Maybe I made too many (putts) through the four rounds. The golfing gods were like: ‘Okay, we’re not going to give her this one’,” said Ashok, who led the Strokes Gained: Putting category with 13.01 strokes gained over the field throughout the week.

“I just tried my best, even the last hole, although it was really out of range. It was almost a long putt, but I still tried to give it a chance. I gave it my best attempt. It’s hard to force the issue when you’re 30 feet away.”

An uncharacteristically wayward driver cost her dearly as she hit only five fairways in the final round which stopped her from being more aggressive into the greens. “I didn’t really drive the ball very good. It’s hard to get birdie putts or hit greens when you’re not in the fairway,” said Ashok, who picked up golf when she was five.

“The front nine I just hit one (green) and I think the back nine I must have hit maybe three or four more. So that was bad today, put me out of position so I couldn’t get close to the flag. I tried my best to hole the last few putts. In a regular tournament whether you finish second or fourth it really doesn’t matter, no-one cares. But at this event you need to be in the top three. I didn’t leave anything out there, I gave it 100 per cent. But fourth at an Olympics where they give out three medals kind of sucks.”

Left-handed Diksha Dagar, India’s other representative, finished tied 50th on six-over 290.

She said Ashok’s run was inspiring and will encourage young girls to pick up the sport. “It’s been a wonderful experience and I’ll keep working hard to improve,” she said. “Aditi had a very good week and I want to try and follow in her footsteps. This performance will certainly create more awareness for golf as not everybody in India knows about golf.”

Ashok hopes her Tokyo showing will put greater spotlight on the game at home, as evidenced by the reaction from the country’s leading politicians.

She said: “I think it’s good, even top-five or top-10 at an Olympics. Just having more top finishes, even if it’s not exactly a podium finish, will maybe bring eyes to the sport and more support, more kids pick up more, whatever. That helps grow the game.

“When I started golf, I never dreamt of being or contending at the Olympics. Golf wasn’t even an Olympic sport. So sometimes you just pick it up and work hard and have fun every day and sometimes you get here.”