India fly under the radar at Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship

By Rahul Banerji

Two-time All-India Amateur winner Aryan Roopa Anand was tied for 38^th place at Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) in Chonburi, Thailand, which ended on Sunday.

Anand’s four-day total of one-over 289 (75-69-74-71) was 14 shots behind event winner Harrison Crowe’s 13-under 275 and was the best score from the Indian contingent at the prestigious event.

Of the seven Indians who teed off on Thursday– Anand, Krishnav Nikhil Chopraa, Shaurya Bhattacharyya, Milind Soni, Rayhan Thomas, Shat Mishra and Arjun Gupta – the first three made the 36-hole cut.

Chopraa was tied 44^th on five-over 293 and Bhattacharyya 47^th on six-over 294. In contrast, only one Japanese and two Australians from equally large contingents at the AAC, missed the weekend rounds.

Japan, who are the dominant force on the Asia-Pacific amateur scene had four finishers in the top ten, and one just outside in tied 11^th place.  China put four into the top 50.

Similarly, South Korea, hosts Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia all brought in better placings than the best-finishing Indian.

Sorry state

For a nation whose golf heritage stretches all the way back to 1829, the oldest outside of Britain, these are not acceptable statistics.

It would be easy to blame the players and be done with it. But with so many others of the 38 participating nations and territories showing better results, it points to a deeper issue.

One that deals with the way the game is being run, and international teams being prepared for international competition.

According to reports, at the formal opening, the boys were outfitted in formal blazers with the Indian Golf Union crest and all, but over the four playing days, there was no uniformity in their turnout.

Each of them was left to choose individual apparel. There were no bags with India markings or colours.

No national coach travelled with the team. Krishnav has his father, former India cricketer Nikhil Chopra on the bag, Bhattacharyya had his personal coach Rahul Bajaj caddying for him.

The Indian Golf Union – IGU—which runs amateur golf in the country also paid no per diem to the seven-member team,

Slack approach

Now, these are relatively minor issues but reflect on the overall approach of those who run the game in the country.

Dubai-based golf writer Joy Chakravarty, who was in Chonburi for the AAC, drew some notable comparisons to the approach adopted by countries like Australia and Japan which have robust amateur programmes.

These countries, for one, have invested heavily in coaching and exposure for the cream of their junior players, and the results were right there on the leaderboard.

While Japan had five players inside the top 11 as noted earlier, Australia had as many as 10 players making the cut and four others missing out.

Writing in the Hindustan Times, Chakravarty noted, “This is about how golf is administered in a country, where we have still managed to find diamonds in the dirt like Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal, Anirban Lahiri and Rashid Khan, despite the lack of facilities.

“It is the complete lack of planning, commitment, and intent which is the scary part… there is a complete dearth of vision and a remarkable prevalence of ineptitude and the inability to take on responsibility.”

Areas that he highlighted included a comprehensive – and sustained – exposure programme for India’s top performers, clear and transparent selection policies, and a solid and dedicated coaching system.

Just one example of the last point. Players like Chopraa and Rayhan Thomas – runner-up at the AAC in 2018 – develop tournament temperament and skills at US universities. As it stands, the IGU does not have any such plan or agenda.

Stony silence

If it has, the Indian Golf Union has remained coy about it.

So far, the IGU has found itself in the news more for its attempts to bypass government regulation on office-bearers’ terms and still avail of official funding than come up with some perspective planning and game development.

For its part, the government is clearly ready to walk the extra mile and support talent identified and recommended by national sports federations.

Aditi Ashok’s outstanding display at the Tokyo Olympics could have been a take-off moment for golf, but as of yet, there is no news about the Indian golf establishment putting forward plans of any sort to seize the moment.

Under its flagship Target Olympic Podium scheme, the Sports Authority of India supports the country’s top-ranked golfers in its stated mission including Aditi.

There’s nothing stopping the IGU from presenting a long-term plan to develop amateur golf as a stepping stone to further success, particularly with the Commonwealth Games added to the Olympics and the Asian Games as a medal sport.

So far, there’s instead been the usual stony silence.

In two days’ time, the Women’s Asia-Pacific Amateur tees off, again in Thailand. Whether or not we will see a better performance than the one at the AAC remains to be seen. From the official perspective though, it all seems to be more of the same.

More’s the pity.

Also read: Aryan finishes top Indian, Australia’s Crowe is AAC champion