- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S Aditi Ashok narrowly missed a medal as she signed off 4th in the golf competition at the Tokyo Olympics after carding a three-under 68 in the weather-hit final round at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe on Saturday (7).
The 23-year-old from Bangalore ended two strokes off the pace with a total of 15-under 269. It was a heart-breaking end to Aditi’s campaign considering she started the day in second position. But it was nonetheless a major improvement as she had finished tied 41st in the 2016 edition where golf made a comeback to the Olympics.
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In the final round, she fired five birdies — on the 5th, 6th, 8th, 13th and 14th holes — against two bogeys on the 9th and 11th.
Overnight leader and world No.1 Nelly Korda of the US clinched the gold medal with a 2-under 69 that left her 17-under overall and a shot ahead of Japan’s Mone Inami (65) and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (65).
Inami and Ko will compete in a play-off to decide the silver and bronze medal winners.
Play was disrupted for a while by a tropical storm after the leading pack had completed 16 holes but soon resumed at the par-71 Kasumigaseki Country Club.
Aditi was in the race for a medal for a major part of the day but the two bogeys pulled her back while Ko moved ahead with a sensational nine birdies against just three dropped shots in her final round.
Prime minister Narendra Modi nonetheless congratulated Ashok saying: 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.”
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.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 7, 2021
