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Tokyo 2020: Golf: Aditi in contention for podium finish after blemish-free second round

Aditi Ashok built on her strong start, as she carded a flawless five-under 66 in the second round to put herself in contention of a historic Olympic medal in the ongoing Tokyo Games.

Tokyo 2020: Golf: Aditi in contention for podium finish after blemish-free second round

Tokyo, Aug 5: Aditi Ashok built on her strong start, as she carded a flawless five-under 66 in the second round to put herself in contention of a historic Olympic medal in the ongoing Tokyo Games.

Tokyo 2020: Aditi tied 2nd, Diksha faltersTokyo 2020: Aditi tied 2nd, Diksha falters

In the second day of the ongoing women's competition, the 23-year-old Indian golfer turned in a card with five birdies, with the last three coming on the last four holes at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.

Aditi rolled in birdies on hole numbers 2, 5, 17 and 18 to keep herself in contention for a historic medal.

Aditi, who had ended the opening round at tied second, finished with a total of nine-under 133 to lie tied second with Danish duo Nanna Koerstz Madsen (64) and Emily Kristine Pedersen (63).

At the Olympics, unlike other tournaments, the 60-player field will play 18 holes each day and there will be no cut as all the golfers in the fray will get to play 72 holes.

Aditi, playing her second Olympics with her mother, Maheshwari, as her caddie, trails leader -- world no.1 Nelly Korda of USA -- by four shots. Korda (67-62) at one stage was 11-under for 17 holes and looked set for a historic sub-60 score of 59 at the Par-71 course.

Meanwhile the other Indian golfer in the fray, Diksha Dagar, playing her maiden Olympics, returned a 72 to share 53rd place on six-over 148.

Aditi kept herself in prime position of delivering a first-ever medal in golf for India with birdies on Hole Nos. 2, 5, 15, 17 and 18.

"The last three holes, I had a couple shots that were just a good number for me and I hadn't really had any short approaches all day, maybe just a couple," Aditi was quoted as saying by PTI.

With the competition faced with the possibility of being reduced to 54 holes due to impending thunderstorms over the weekend, the slightly-built Indian knows she needs to keep firing at the flags to ensure what would be a monumental podium finish for Indian golf.

"This whole week there's going to be so many girls making birdies, especially because the weather's warm and the conditions are favourable," she said. "I think whatever holes I get to play, whether it's 54 or 72, I'm not really going to sit on anything, I'm just going to try and be as aggressive and make more birdies."

Her strong start in the women's competition has continued to attract plenty of attention on social media at home which Aditi hopes will make the sport more attractive for people in general. She is dreaming of a medal but is experienced enough to know she needs to stay in the present. "Oh, yeah, for sure," Aditi, who finished 41st in Rio five years back, responded if she was thinking of a podium finish.

"It's kind of like everyone's thinking about it. It's definitely at the back of my mind. But on the course, I'm not really thinking much about it. I'm just trying to hit the best shot I can hit. And hopefully people back home are watching it a lot more. I know a few of my friends are staying up to watch, which is cool. Olympics is huge.

"In a regular event people just wouldn't follow it as much, even if it was a LPGA event or a major. So, yeah, I think the buzz has been good so far," signed off Aditi.

(With input from PTI)

Story first published: Thursday, August 5, 2021, 15:43 [IST]
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