Olympian Aditi Ashok to lead Indian golf team in Asian games 2023
Apr 28, 2023
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 28 : Indian Olympian Aditi Ashok will lead the seven members Indian golf team in the Asian Games 2023 which will be held in China between September 23 to October 8.
In the Indian Golf Union's Asian Games 2023 selection trials, Pranavi Urs and Avani Prashanth topped the selection for women at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in Kolkata on Thursday as per olympics.com.
Both the player would join Aditi Ashok in the Indian team for the continental meet. Aditi did not participate in the trials as she entered directly based on her ranking. This time, she would like to win the medal as Aditi narrowly missed out on winning a medal at Tokyo 2020.
Twenty-year-old Pranavi Urs and Avani Prashanth, 16, who won Queen Sirikit Cup 2023 in the Philippines earlier this year, tied for first place at 10-under 206.
Tvesa Malik placed herself in the third position with a score of nine-under. Malik had made the direct entry in the last Asian Games because of her ranking but this time she failed to make the cut.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Olympian Diksha Dagar would not play in the Asian Games in China as she finished fifth in the trials with a score of three-under 213.
In the men's trials, Khalin Joshi was followed by SSP Chawrasia on the leaderboard. While Khalin Joshi totalled 13-under 203, SSP Chawrasia managed 11-under 205 for second place.
Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma got the direct entry on the bases of their ranking, Khalin Joshi and SSP Chawrasia will join now join Lahiri and Sharma in the team. Lahiri has one silver medal as he was part of the Indian golf team that won at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
Khalin Joshi and SSP Chawrasia will join Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma in the Indian men's golf team. Lahiri and Sharma did not compete in the trials and were handed direct entries based on their rankings. Lahiri was part of the Indian golf team that won silver at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
However, Rashid Khan who won a silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games did not secure his berth as he finished fifth scoring six-under 210.
Overall, 19 men and 19 women competed for the available Asian Games spots.
The Asian Games 2023 are scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.
India have won six medals, three golds and three silvers across individual and team events since golf made its debut at the 1982 Asian Games. All medals have been won by men.
