Hangzhou, China, 01-10-2023

Aditi settles for silver as Indian teams finish out of medals in Asian Games golf

By V Krishnaswamy

Aditi Ashok had to settle for a silver as she was unable to hold onto her seven-shot lead and shot 5-over 77 in the final round of the 19tth Asian Games. Aditi, who began the day seven clear of the field, had a tough day, when the gold seemed to be coming her way after three days.

The team also slipped from first to fourth and ended without a medal.

Though it was a big disappointment for the Indian team, the individual silver medal for Aditi was the first-ever golf medal for India in Asian Games.

It was a difficult day for scoring, as only six players shot under par and only two went into the 60s. One of them was the 21-year-old Arpichaya Yubol of Thailand, who like Aditi plays on the LPGA Tour. Yubol shot 68 in the final round and won the gold ahead of the Indian.

The Indian women’s team also fell from the top spot to fourth and out of medals. As Yubol took gold, the silver went to Aditi and the bronze medal was claimed by Korea’s Hyunjo Yoo (65) who had the best round of the final day.

In the men’s section, Anirban Lahiri (65-67-74-68) was T-12, SSP Chawrasia (67-72-68-75) dropped to T-28. Khalin Joshi (70-69-69-73) was T-27 and Shubhankar Sharma (68-69-76-73) was 32nd. The men’s team also ended seventh.

The Indian men ended seventh, as Korea took the gold, Thailand were second and Hong Kong third.

In the men’s section, Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho (62-60-70-69) was 27-under as he held on to his third-round lead to win gold. Korea’s PGA Tour winner, Sungjae Im (66-65-66-65) took silver at 26-under. Taipei’s Chien-Yao Hung (65-63-67-69) at 24-under.

The 25-year-old Aditi, who had rounds of 67-65-61 on the first three days, crashed to 77. After 19 birdies and two eagles and just one bogey in the first 54 holes, she gave away four bogeys and a double bogey against just one more birdie in the final round. She dropped from overnight 22-under to 17-under.

In contrast her playing partner, Arpichaya Yubol of Thailand, compiled a superb 68 in difficult scoring conditions on a day, when just two players carded below 70. Yubol (67-65-69-68), trailing Aditi by seven shots, rose from 15-under to 19-under and beat Aditi by two shots.

Korea’s Hyunjo Yoo (68-73-66-65) at 16-under finished third for the bronze medal as she raced past a bunch of better-known names with six birdies on the back nine in her round of 7-under 65.

With Aditi crashing in the final round, the Indian team, which was leading by one shot after three rounds, also slipped off the podium and was fourth.

India’s other two players, Pranavi Urs (75) and Avani Prashanth (76), also had a rough day in the final round. Pranavi finished 13th and Avani was T-18.

Korea won the team gold with a massive margin of 25 shots as they totalled 74-under, with Thailand (51-under) second and Hong Kong (50-under) finished third. The fancied Chinese finished sixth.

Meanwhile in the men’s team, Anirban Lahiri showed recovery after being hit by the heat, as he shot 68 in the final round, but his teammates were way off. Lahiri was the top Indian at T-12, while the team was seventh.

Overall, Korea was the only team to figure among medals in all four sections.