Golfer Diksha Dagar to make Olympics debut after late entry to Tokyo 2020
India’s Diksha Dagar got a lucky entry to the Tokyo Olympics after South Africa’s Paula Reto withdrew from the event and Sarah Schober declined the vacant spot.
Indian golfer Diksha Dagar will make her debut at the Summer Games after she was granted a lucky and late entry to the Tokyo Olympics women’s golf competition, which starts on August 4.
Diksha Dagar will join compatriot Aditi Ashok in the women’s golf field. In the men’s golf competition, Anirban Lahiri and Udayan Mane are the other Indian golfers at Tokyo.
The 20-year-old Diksha Dagar had been in the reserves list for a number of golfers but her chances of playing at the Kasumigaseki Country Club looked bleak.
However, South African golfer Paula Reto - the 59th of 60 golfers in the field - pulled out of Tokyo 2020 on Wednesday.
The first reserve for Paula Reto - Austria’s Sarah Schober was then bumped up to the main draw but the latter declined the reallocation.
This opened the doors for Diksha Dagar - who was second reserve for Paula Reto - and she has opted to take up the spot.
The Indian golfer is slated to play the ISPA Handa World Invitational tournament in Northern Ireland - which goes on from July 29-August 1 - but may yet pull out to fly to Tokyo.
Diksha Dagar is a left-handed golfer who plays on the Ladies European Tour (LET) - where she has won the 2019 South African Women’s Open and the 2021 Aramco Team Series in London.
The youngster turned pro in 2019 and was born with hearing impairment. She has won silver at the 2017 Deaflympics and has represented India at the 2018 Asian Games.