Aditi Ashok will be determined to make amends for her near-miss at the Tokyo Games, while Diksha Dagar will look to overcome the trauma of a car tragedy as the two Indian golfers begin their campaigns at the Paris Games on Wednesday. Aditi, a two-time Olympian, came agonizingly close to winning a medal in Tokyo three years ago but finished fourth, and she will look for redemption this time. Diksha, on the other hand, escaped unharmed despite being engaged in a car accident that hospitalized her mother. However, the 23-year-old from Jhajjar has overcome all obstacles and is determined to achieve Olympic success.
A quarter of the field, or 15 out of 60 players, in the women’s Olympic golf competition have competed in all three Games since the sport was reinstated in 2016, including Aditi. Her teammate Diksha Dagar, who is making her second Olympic debut, is one of 36 players who have competed in at least one previous Olympics.
Aditi tees off with Gaby Lopez (Mexico) and Esther Henseleit (Germany) at 9.22 AM local time (12.52 p.m. IST), while Diksha begins at 10:55 AM with Wei-Ling Hsu (Chinese Taipei) and Emma Spitz (Austria). The women’s competition lasts from August 7, Wednesday to August 11, Saturday.
Aditi won her home event, the Hero Women’s Indian Open, as a rookie in 2016, and has since won five times on the Ladies European Tour but has yet to win on the LPGA. She’s been on the LPGA since 2017. Aditi’s big moment came in 2020 when she came close to winning an Olympic medal but ended fourth. Despite missing out on a medal, she was praised by the entire nation, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Aditi is coming off a tie for 22nd at the LPGA Tour’s Portland Classic, which concluded on Sunday. She has played four weeks in a row since the Amundi Evian, and this is her fifth consecutive week. Aditi had her father, Ashok, on the bag in 2016, and her mother, Maheshwari, caddying for her in Tokyo. Her father, who has been with her on the LPGA the majority of the time, will be on duty again in Paris.
The 60-athlete field includes athletes from 33 different countries. This week’s competition features twelve of the top fifteen players. The field includes six players who have reached World No.1 in the Rolex Rankings: Jin Young Ko (Korea), Lydia Ko (New Zealand), Nelly Korda (USA), Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand), Lilia Vu (USA), and Ruoning Yin (China).
