At 18 years and 4 months, India’s Aditi Ashok was the youngest golfer on the 2016 Rio Olympics. Five years later, she has certified for her second successive Olympic Games which can be held this month in Tokyo. Aditi completed forty fifth on the qualifying listing on Tuesday to make the minimize for Tokyo Games.
For the 23-year-old, who took up the game on the age of six and turned skilled in January 2016, collaborating within the Olympics is akin to that includes within the magnum opus of all sporting occasions
“I am honoured to represent my country for the second time at the Olympic Games. I was confident that I would make it to the Tokyo Olympic women’s golf roster. Now the strategy would be to perform to the best of my ability on all four days and give my 100 percent,” mentioned Aditi, the youngest Indian golfer (male or feminine) to have performed all majors.
Recalling her earlier expertise on the Olympics, Aditi believes it’s one thing that can absolutely assist her carry out higher this time. “Rio was an amazing week. I did well on the first two days but didn’t play great on the final two days. But now I am five years older and more mature in terms of playing the game and I am sure the experience will help me,” she mentioned.
However, there have been just a few bumps on the street to Tokyo for the Bengaluru-based golfer. Covid-19 induced lockdowns final 12 months did hamper Aditi’s follow periods. But she had her personal manner of overcoming the chances.
“I play professionally on two tours LPGA (in the USA) and LET (in Europe). When Covid hit in 2020, the whole world came to halt. Just to stay safe, I chose not to play the whole year except for a few weeks in the end. All the golfing facilities were closed in Bangalore. Generally, it was a tough year for everyone.,” recalled Aditi.
“During this time I focused more on my fitness and conditioning. I did practice my swing on my terrace,” mentioned Aditi, who can also be the primary participant from the nation to win the Ladies British novice stroke-play championship at Leeds.
As of now, Aditi is within the USA the place she is placing in all of the laborious work and looking out ahead to being a part of the most important sporting occasion on the planet.
“The challenges this time are covid travel restrictions and lockdowns. This year, I could not practice at all in India because of the lockdown in Bangalore from the last week of April to early June. But now I am back in the USA playing tournaments and practicing as much as possible before I head to Tokyo,” she mentioned.
Analysing her efficiency in 2021, she mentioned, “So far this year I started with 6 tournaments on the LPGA at the beginning of the year, those weren’t too great or bad either. So after getting back to the USA I’ve played these last two tournaments, would probably play three or maybe four more events before the Olympics. Hopefully, these next four are good preparation for the Olympics and help me build some momentum.”
On Tuesday, teen taking pictures sensation Manu Bhaker revealed that he can be switching off from social media until the tip of the Tokyo Olympics to give attention to her preparation and efficiency within the Games.
But Aditi is mentally ready for her sojourn and in reality, sees it as a device to make Golf well-liked in India.
“I don’t post that often to use social media as much. I’m there to post and not really on it and scrolling. So I haven’t really thought about disconnecting,” mentioned Aditi.
“I think it’s great to make use of this opportunity with golf in the Olympics and make the sport popular, especially being an Indian and a girl where the sport isn’t as popular for girls in India and it should become more popular and the Olympics can help that by generating social media attention then I think better to make use of that,” she concluded.
Notable Achievements
2015: Winner of Ladies European Tour’s Lalla Aicha Tour School in Morocco.
2016: Rookie of the Year on LET
2017: Youngest Indian golfer (male or feminine) at 19 years to have performed all majors
2018: No. 2, Putting Average, LPGA (28.67)
