India’s leading woman golfer Aditi Ashok prepared for the Paris Olympic Games with four competitive rounds at the Portland Classic in Oregon last week, Image courtesy Aditi Ashok/X.
By Rahul Banerji
Aditi Ashok will be hoping her warm-up for the Paris Olympics – five tournaments in as many weeks – will pay off when she tees off at Le Golf National on Wednesday morning.
India’s lone face on the LPGA tuned up for the women’s golf competition with a tied 22nd place at the Portland Classic in Oregon with rounds of 70, 67, 65 and 72 for a 14 under par 272 at the event won by Thailand’s Moriya Junatugarn eight strokes up the road.
Aditi tee off at Guyancourt alongside Gaby Lopez of Mexico, and Germany’s Esther Henseleit two flights ahead of defending champion Nelly Korda of the US.
Diksha Dagar too has a morning tee off on the opening day of competition and will play her first shot in the group, including Wei-Ling Hsu of Chinese Taipei and Austria’s Emma Spitz.
While Aditi starts at 12.52 pm IST, Diksha gets going at 2.25 pm as per the published tee times. Last week, India’s men’s of Shubhankar Sharma (T40) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (T45) were well off the pace at Le Golf National.
Aditi, who lost to New Zealand’s Lydia Ko in the bronze medal playoff in Tokyo, arrived in Paris on Monday and got a feel of the course earlier on Tuesday. At last year’s Asian Games, the 26-year-old won silver in Hangzhou.
She last played at the Paris Games venue last month at the Evian Championship, as did Diksha.
“I feel like some stuff would have changed, and I need to figure that stuff out today,” Aditi told barrons.com in Paris.
“I don’t think I’m as under-prepared as maybe people would think I am.
“These events I think are so much different than a regular event.
Big audience
“So many people back home watch golf just because it’s in the Olympics. So it’s like a different demographic of people who get to watch me play which is cool.”
Frenchwoman Perrine Delacour will hit the opening tee shot at 12.30 pm IST on Wednesday.
Tokyo gold medallist Korda plays the first two rounds with South Korea’s Jin Young Ko and China’s Ruoning Yin, with all three being major championship winners and all in the top five of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
Korda’s US teammate Rose Zhang will open alongside Hannah Green of Australia and Britain’s Charley Hull while popular Frenchwoman Celine Boutier has been drawn with world no. 2 Lilia Vu of the US and South Korea’s Amy Yang, another group of major title-winners.
The Paris Olympics website said that thirteen of the top 15 in the women’s world rankings are in action at the Games.
Round 1 and two tee times
9 am Wednesday/10:55 am Thursday: Perrine Delacour (France), Stephanie Meadow (Ireland), Manon De Roey (Belgium)
9:11 am Wednesday/11:06 am Thursday: Peiyun Chien (Chinese Taipei), Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Denmark), Anne Van Dam (Netherlands)
9:22 am Wednesday/11:17 am Thursday: Aditi Ashok (India), Gaby Lopez (Mexico), Esther Henseleit (Germany)
9:33 am Wednesday /11:33 am Thursday: Shannon Tan (Singapore), Maria Fassi (Mexico), Celine Borge (Norway)
9:44 am Wednesday/11:44 am Thursday: Hannah Green (Australia), Charley Hull (Great Britain), Rose Zhang (USA)
9:55 am Wednesday/11:55 am Thursday: Nelly Korda (USA), Jin Young Ko (Korea), Ruoning Yin (China)
10:11 am Wednesday/Thursday 12:06 pm: Hyojoo Kim (Korea), Brooke M. Henderson (Canada), Xiyu Lin (China)
10:22 am Wednesday/12:17 pm Thursday: Patty Tavatanakit (Thailand), Linn Grant (Sweden), Carlota Ciganda (Spain)
10:33 am Wednesday/12:28 p.m. Thursday: Alessandra Fanali (Italy), Ashley Lau (Malaysia), Ursula Wikstrom (Finland)
10:44 am Wednesday/Thursday 12:39 pm: Dottie Ardina (Philippines), Noora Komulainen (Finland), Madelene Stavnar (Norway)
10:55 am Wednesday/9 am Thursday: Wei-Ling Hsu (Chinese Taipei), Diksha Dagar (India), Emma Spitz (Austria)
11:06 am Wednesday/9:11 am Thursday: Azahara Munoz (Spain), Bianca Pagdanganan (Philippines), Morgane Metraux (Switzerland)
11:17 am Wednesday/9:22 am Thursday: Alexandra Forsterling (Germany), Albane Valenzuela (Switzerland), Emily K. Pedersen (Denmark)
11:33 am Wednesday/9:33 am Thursday: Klara Davidson Spilkova (Czech Republic), Paula Reto (South Africa), Mariajo Uribe (Colombia)
11:44 am Wednesday/9:44 am Thursday: Yuka Saso (Japan), Minjee Lee (Australia), Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand)
11:55 am Wednesday/9:55 am Thursday: Celine Boutier (France), Lilia Vu (USA), Amy Yang (Korea)
12:06 pm Wednesday/10:11 am Thursday: Lydia Ko (New Zealand), Miyu Yamashita (Japan), Maja Stark (Sweden)
12:17 pm Wednesday/10:22 am Thursday: Leona Maguire (Ireland), Georgia Hall (Great Britain), Ashleigh Buhai (South Africa)
12:28 pm Wednesday/10:33 am Thursday: Ana Belac (Slovenia), Sara Kouskova (Czech Republic), Alena Sharp (Canada)
12:39 pm Wednesday/10:44 am Thursday: Ines Laklalech (Morocco), Sarah Schober (Austria), Pia Babnik (Slovenia)
Also read: Aditi Ashok, Diksha Dagar set for Evian Championship tee-off
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