Aditi Ashok headlines six-member squad for Nagoya Asiad

The Indian team for the Nagoya Asian Games, (from left to right) Yuvraj Sandhu, Veer Ahlawat and Saptak Talwar (top) and Aditi Ashok, Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs (bottom). Montage courtesy IGU.

By Rahul Banerji

Aditi Ashok and Yuvraj Sandhu will lead the Indian women’s and men’s squad respectively to the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, this September-October.

Joining the US-based Aditi wil be Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs, while the men’s team will have Veer Ahlawat and Saptak Talwar alongside Yuvraj.

Golf medals at the Asian Games will be contested between September 30 and October 3 at the Kasugai Country Club East Course in Aichi Prefecture. 

Competition will be for team and individual medals, and of the six named, Aditi has already been on an Asian Games podium with the 2023 individual silver in Hangzhou. This remains India’s only women’s golf medal at the continental games.

Both Aditi and Diksha have also represented the country at the Olympics, Aditi appearing in three including Tokyo where she narrowly missed out on a medal, and Diksha in two. 

For Pranavi, this will be a second Asian Games after China where she finished 13th.

Aditi, who plays on the LPGA is currently world-ranked 135, while Diksha (221st) and Pranavi (270th) are regulars on the Ladies European Tour. Between them, the first two have won five time on the LET.

On the men’s side, Sandhu, a seven-time winner on the DP World PGTI last year is currently ranked 451st in the world, Veer Ahlawat is 558th and Saptak Talwar 576th.

Sandhu topped the domestic merit list last year to earn playing rights on the DP World (European) Tour for the current season while Ahlawat played in Europe in 2025.

New experience

All three men will be making their first appearance at the Asian Games.

India’s three most experienced men golfers — Anirban Lahiri, Shunhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar — were well below those chosen in the world rankings for varying reasons.

Said IGU president Brijinder Singh on the selections, “We have got a supremely talented and efficient squad which has someone like Yuvraj Sandhu, who won seven times on the PGTI circuit last year. 

“Then there are likes of Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar who have won multiple times on the LET. 

“The entries were decided purely through World Rankings.”

India has earned three gold and three silver medals at the Asian Games so far. 

Lakshman Singh, Rajeev Mohta, Amit Luthra and Rishi Narain won the team gold in 1982 with the Lakshman Singh also taking the individual gold medal.

Shiv Kapur won individual gold at the 2002 Busan Asian Games. At Doha in 2006, Anirban Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Joseph Chakola clinched silver and at Guangzhou in 2010, Rashid Khan, Rahul Bajaj, Abhinav Lohan and Abhijit Singh Chadha won the team silver.

Also read: Sandhu, Shubhankar make the cut at Turkish Airlines Open