Hyderabadi golfer inspired by Olympian Aditi Ashok
Hyderabad: An Olympic golf medal may have eluded Aditi Ashok but what she has done is that she forced many Indians hooked to the television watching her in action in the Tokyo Games on Saturday morning. The social media was all about Aditi and her exploits. The viewership was as a good as a cricket match.
Aditi’s spectacular show could now inspire many golfers in the country and in Hyderabad also. Incidentally, this Bengalurian golfer played many of the tournaments at the age of ten years-old. C Dayakar Reddy, president of Hyderabad Golf Association, said Aditi’s incredible performance could be sort of the right tonic for the younger mind to take to the gold.
“Although in the past there were complaints of having no golf courses and being an expensive game but HGA has been made friendly and amiable sport. To encourage young talent, we will be charging Rs 5000 per year for anyone taking to golf. They can play unlimited golf. Apart from that we will be giving training classes to the young golfers. We have also started this Hyderabad league in IPL model to promote the game,’’ he said.
But what is encouraging is the rise of a young special talent in Sneha Singh, who is from the city. She has climbed the ladder with solid performances and today she is No.1 in women’s amateur golf in the country. Father Sanjay Singh, who is also her coach, said her daughter is all focused for the 2024 Paris Olympics. “The next two years are very crucial. She is in the right frame of mind and she is working on her fitness for the new challenges. We are looking to make her play professional golf by next year to get the necessary points to qualify for the Olympics,’’ said Sanjay, a certified Class A coach.
Having played golf since she was three-and-half years at Calcutta Golf Club, Sneha has come a long way. They moved to Hyderabad in 2010 and started training under her father. She began to make a mark as she started winning tournaments from a young age. The talented golfer has already won two professional tournaments as an amateur apart from that she has won honours in six national tournaments, including the all India Junior tournament and All India Ladies tournament.
For Sneha, she has now become a fan of Aditi. Incidentally, she has played with Aditi whenever she was in Hyderabad. “She played an amazing game today. She was just two strokes away from the medal. She has become a big inspiration for young golfers like us. It is all about pressure and mental toughness,’’ said Sneha, who is 224 in World Amateur Golf Ranking.
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