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Asian Games 2018: Jakarta bound golfers confident of good show

“It’s a matter of pride,” said Harimohan Singh, when asked what it would mean to represent the country at the upcoming Asian Games in Jakarta.

Asian Games bound golfers (from left), Aadil Bedi, Harimohan Singh and Rayhan Thomas

Bengaluru, August 16: “It’s a matter of pride,” said Harimohan Singh, when asked what it would mean to represent the country at the upcoming Asian Games in Jakarta. Golf was added in the prestigious event in the 1982 edition. And since then the Indian golfers have six medal to their name, which include three golds and three silver medals.

With medals up for grabs in four categories the Indian team is confident of hoisting the tricolour on the podium. The four categories include the men’s individual and team event, along with the women’s individual and team event. The men’s team consists of four golfers, namely, Harimohan Singh, Aadil Bedi, Rayhan Thomas and Kshitij Naved Kaul. Meanwhile, the women’s team has three players including, Ridhima Dilawari, Sifat Sagoo, and Diksha Dagar. The four events will be played out at the Pondok Indah Golf Course in Jakarta from 23-26 August.

After a relatively good week on the Asian Tour, the Indian golfers head into the Asian Games confident of a good show at the quadrennial event. Three of the Indian men’s teams members plied their trade at the recently concluded Take Solutions Masters, an Asian Tour and PGTI co-sanctioned event. It was a confidence booster for 17-year-old Aadil and 24-year-old Harimohan. The duo finished tied 23rd at seven-under at the KGA. But Rayhan missed the cut at the event. Aadil had also finished tied 14th the previous week at the Louis Philippe Cup and will head into the multi-sport event high on confidence. The golfers also attended a five-day camp in Gurugram, before leaving for Jakarta on Friday.

Golf is more of an individual sport, but in Jakarta the youngsters will not be playing for just themselves, but for their country as well. And that is a feeling which is spurring them on. “It’s a matter of pride! When I got selected for the Asian Games, it was like the best feeling that I had. I was very proud that I was going and playing in the Asian Games. It only happens every four year and the best four get to go and play. I was really proud to be selected but now I’ll be more happy when I win a medal and make my country proud,” Harimohan told MyKhel in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, his teammate, Aadil exclaimed, “Its exciting and thrilling! This is my first multi-sport meet. It's certainly thrilling but I take it as just another four days of golf, and that's the mindset that we should have. It’s just that there's a big hype around the Asian Games and we understand. But if we have to perform the way we are expected to perform, I think we should just take it as just another tournament.”

Moreover, having played with a strong Asian field and senior players, the trio have had ample experience that they could put to use in the Asian Games. The tournament practice along with Asia’s top have added to their preparations for the upcoming event. “Just before the Asian Games this is a really nice field. It’s an Asian tour event and the best pros in Asia were playing. And it is one of the best courses (KGA) of Asia. Playing here and playing with them really helps you see where you're standing right now. When you see them play you automatically try to play well because the competition is better and right before the Games it helped,” opined Harimohan, who has had a more or less good season till now.

Singh went on to add, “Just before this event at the Louis Philippe Cup I missed my cut and my confidence was really low and I spoke to my coach and he told me to focus on this week. So this week I came with a fresh mind and shot 7-under across four days and my confidence is up there now. I can have a good week in Jakarta.”

Meanwhile, Aadil, who has had two consecutive good weeks, said, “It was a good field here and I played with the top players and that obviously helps. Played with Chawrasia and Poom the first few days and learned a lot from them. It’s just the feeling of a high pressure match that helps you prepare. I feel it’s better than practicing at home with no match pressure. And also I played good in a field of good players. In terms of confidence, I'm more confident than I was last week.”

Good medal prospects: Harimohan

The duo strongly believe that India have a good chance in Jakarta. Talking about their medal prospects, Harimohan added, “I would say we have a really good chance of medal right now. Mainly, because out of four the best three scores are counted in the team event. And Aadil and I have performed well here (Take Solutions Masters). Both of us combined for 14-under-par for four days here (Bengaluru) so that's good. And Rayhan is also a good player. We will have a good total and I'm pretty sure we can win this because everyone is in good form.”

Moreover, playing on the tour with former Asian Games players, Harimohan said that they have gained invaluable advice ahead of the tournament. “Shiv Kapur, who won the individual gold told me that that victory is still his best. He said to me, 'when your on the stage on the podium and the national anthem is playing its the best feeling’ and he still has goosebumps when he thinks about it. So that’s what I aim for. I want to have the same feeling. I keep on thinking about it. I visualise it. I want to stand on the podium with the national anthem playing. He also gave me a couple of pointers and that was really helpful.”

Also, golf is more of an individual sport, but the golfers here will be playing for their teammates and their country and Noida golfer Singh believes that works more as an added advantage, than pressure. Talking about it Harimohan stated, “When you're playing alone at one point of time you sometimes give up. But here, you don't only have your own responsibility, but you have the responsibility of the team. So even if you have a bad hole or round, you just cannot give up here. Because you never know, your teammate might have had a worse day than you. So you just can't give up here. You have to keep fighting till the end.”

While 24-year-old Harimohan is the senior-most in the team (age-wise), Aadil is the youngest-ever to represent the country at the Asian Games. And when asked about it the Chandigarh golfer had a witty take on it. “Earlier maybe that (youngest) affected it, but it doesn’t anymore. I’ve been playing for a long time now to not feel that immaturity while playing golf. I may be younger than them but on the golf course I don't feel that way - that I have less experience or they have some kind of advantage over me. I've been playing amateur golf for a few years now and I've mostly played with people older than me. That thing has settled in.

“Being younger I think that puts me at an advantage because I have less things to lose than them. If I lose that means he's just gaining experience, but if I win then they've lost to a kid. I take it that way,” said the 17-year-old, who started playing at the age of four.

A very talented lot: senior players back the trio

Meanwhile, talking about the trio, Jeev Milkha Singh, who represented India back in the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, said, “These boys have great talent and the maturity to play big events and the fact that they get to play events like the TAKE Solutions Masters gives them a chance to see established professionals and learn from them.”

On the other hand, six-time Asian Tour winner and Olympian, SSP Chawrasia, who played the first round with the 17-year-old Bedi, was very impressed by the way the youngster carried himself. “He is focussed and has the game to go a long way. I was very happy to see such a mature head on such a young player,” said Chawrasia.

Also backing the golfers was Feroz Garewal, who represented India at the 2014 Asian Games. Garewal said, “This Indian team is very solid and could strike a medal. I have seen Aadil play as also the others. They are focussed and very talented.”


India Squad:

Men (world ranking):

Rayhan Thomas (19), Kshitij Naved Kaul (278), Aadil Bedi (630, Harimohan Singh (1072)

Women (world ranking):

Sifat Sagoo (762), Ridhima Dilwari (408), Diksha Dagar (445)


India's medal haul at the Asian Games:

1982: Gold: Team (Laxman Singh, Rishi Narain, Rajeev Mohta)

1982: Gold: Individual (Laxman Singh)

1982: Silver: Individual (Rajeev Mohta)

2002: Gold: Shiv Kapur

2006: Silver: Team (Gaganjeet Bhullar, Anirban Lahiri, Chiragh Kumar and Joseph Chakola)

2010: Silver: Team (Rashid Khan, Rahul Bajaj, Abhijit Singh Chaddha, Abhinav Lohan)

Story first published: Thursday, August 16, 2018, 19:45 [IST]
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