Asian Games 2023: Aditi Ashok to lead seven-member Indian golf team - full squad
Teenager Avani Prashanth along with Pranavi Urs joined Aditi Ashok through trials. Golfers Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma were handed direct entries.
Golf
Avani Prashanth and Pranavi Urs topped the Indian Golf Union’s Asian Games 2023 selection trials for women at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in Kolkata on Thursday.
The duo from Bengaluru joined Olympian Aditi Ashok in the Indian team for the continental meet. Aditi Ashok, who narrowly missed out on winning a medal at Tokyo 2020, did not participate in the trials. She was handed a direct entry based on her ranking.
Twenty-year-old Pranavi Urs and Avani Prashanth, 16, who won Queen Sirikit Cup 2023 in the Philippines earlier this year, tied for first place at 10-under 206.
The duo was followed by Tvesa Malik in third place with a score of nine-under. Malik was handed a direct entry last year for the Asian Games based on her rankings but failed to make the cut this time.
Tokyo Olympian Diksha Dagar was the other high-profile name that will be missing from the Indian team for the Asian Games in China. She finished fifth in the trials with a score of three-under 213.
In the men’s trials, Khalin Joshi was followed by SSP Chawrasia on the leaderboard. While Khalin Joshi totalled 13-under 203, SSP Chawrasia managed 11-under 205 for second place.
Khalin Joshi and SSP Chawrasia will join Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma in the Indian men's golf team. Lahiri and Sharma did not compete in the trials and were handed direct entries based on their rankings. Lahiri was part of the Indian golf team that won silver at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
Rashid Khan, a silver medallist from the 2010 Asian Games, could not secure his berth after finishing fifth with a score of a six-under 210.
Overall, 19 men and 19 women competed for the available Asian Games spots.
The Asian Games 2023 are scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.
India have won six medals, three golds and three silvers across individual and team events since golf made its debut at the 1982 Asian Games. All medals have been won by men.
Indian golf team for Asian Games 2023
Men: Anirban Lahiri, Shubhankar Sharma, Khalin Joshi, SSP Chawrasia
Women: Aditi Ashok, Pranavi Urs, Avani Prashanth