World No.200 Aditi Ashok misses Olympic medal by a whisker; PM Modi says 'well played'

The Olympic Games have been a complete family affair for the unheralded Indian golfer Aditi Ashok. At the Rio Olympics in 2016, it was her father who was caddying for her. In Japan, the 23-year-old Bengalurean had her mother Maheshwari on the bag in her hunt for an Olympic medal.

She came really close to a medal finish in Tokyo.

Aditi missed a medal narrowly as she signed off 4th in the Olympic Games' golf competition after carding a three-under 68 in the weather-hit final round on Saturday.

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The Indian golfer delivered one of the great putting performances to stay in reach. She had a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th that slid by the hole and kept her off the podium by one shot.

It was a heartbreaking end to Aditi's campaign considering she started the day at 2nd. But it was nonetheless a major improvement as she had finished tied 41st in the 2016 edition where golf made a comeback to the Olympics.

In the final round, she fired five birdies — on the 5th, 6th, 8th, 13th and 14th holes — against two bogeys on the 9th and 11th.

Overnight leader and world number one Nelly Korda clinched the gold medal with a 2-under 69 that left her 17-under overall and a shot ahead of Japan's Mone Inami (65) and New Zealand's Lydia Ko (65).

Inami and Ko competed in a play-off to decide the silver and bronze medal winners in which the former emerged triumphantly.

Aditi was in medal contention for a major part of the day but the two bogeys pulled her back while Ko surged ahead with a sensational nine birdies against just three dropped shots in her final round.

‘Hard to be happy with 4th place at Olympics’

In any other tournament, Aditi Ashok would have gladly taken a fourth-place finish but this was the Olympics and the golfer said it is hard for her to be happy even though she produced the best ever performance by an Indian at the showpiece.

The 23-year-old was not particularly happy with her final round show even though it was studded with five birdies against just two bogeys.

But she is hopeful that her stellar performance would ignite unprecedented interest in the sport, which is perceived to be elitist.

This was Aditi's second Olympic appearance. She had finished tied 41st in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro edition. Aditi said since she played only a few tournaments in May-June and also got infected by the coronavirus, has probably lost distance off the tee.

‘You went farther than any Indian, blazed trail’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others lauded the Indian golfer for putting up a spirited show in Tokyo.

The other Indian in the fray, Diksha Dagar, finished her campaign at tied 50th after managing her first sub-par round of the week, a one-under 70, which left her with an aggregate total of 6-over 290.