Tokyo Olympics: President Kovind & PM Modi hail golfer Aditi Ashok on historic performance

President Ram Nath Kovind has come forward and lauded young golfer Aditi Ashok for her outstanding performance in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Aditi Ashok narrowly missed out on being the first Indian golfer to win an Olympic medal in the women's individual stroke play as she agonizingly finished at the fourth position.

PM Modi, President Kovind lauds Aditi Ashok's commendable efforts

PM Modi took to Twitter and congratulated Aditi Ashok for showing 'tremendous skill' and 'resolve' during the Tokyo Olympics.

"A medal was narrowly missed but you’ve gone farther than any Indian and blazed a trail. Best wishes for your future endeavours", PM Modi added.

Taking to the micro-blogging site, President Ram Nath Kovind congratulated Aditi Ashok for making a mark in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics. The President then told the young golfer from Bengaluru that she has taken the sport in the country to new heights by courtesy of her 'historic performance' on Saturday.

Furthermore, President Kovind added that Aditi played with immense calm and poise and concluded by lauding the golfer's impressive display of 'grit' and 'skills'.

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur came forward and wrote that Aditi Ashok indeed deserves a 'standing ovation' for her 'exemplary performance' at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 as she became the first Indian golfer to manage a fourth-place finish at the Olympic Games. He then added that Aditi played consistently well and also had everyone holding their breath till the end. 

Anurag Thakur then heaped praise on the young golfer for creating history and wished her luck for the future.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju gave a special mention to Aditi Ashok that India is 'proud' of her achievement even though she finished fourth and missed the Olympic medal by a whisker.

Tokyo Olympics 2020: So near yet so far for Aditi Ashok

When the fourth and final round got underway on Saturday morning, the Bangalore golfer had maintained her second position and was just behind USA's Nelly Korda. She suddenly slipped down to the third position when her first three holes were Par-4 and the fourth Par-3.

It was just a matter of time before the 23-year-old regained the second spot when she got a hole in 4 on the Par-5. She then putted Birdies on the fifth and sixth hole respectively as she maintained the second position. At the same time, Aditi Ashok was also tied with Lydia Ko from New Zealand.

As the contest progressed, Aditi did showcase some outstanding performances which paved way for a three-player contention for the top spot that included the Indian golfer herself along with Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko respectively.  Meanwhile, Aditi slipped back to the third position when she completed with a bogey on the ninth hole. 

With the last nine holes left prior to deciding the medals, Aditi Ashok got a par on the 10th holes that pushed her back up to Tied-2nd that tied her with Lydia Ko and Denmark's  Emily Kristine Pedersen. Nonetheless, a bogey on the 11th hole brought Aditi down to the third position as the current world number one Nelly Korda and Emily Kristine rose up to the top two positions. 

There was a scare when the young golfer slipped to the fourth position but she made up for it instantly by jumping up a position to keep her medal hopes alive. With six holes still left, the competition got intense when Japanese golfer  Mone Iname made an impact which paved way for yet another three-way tie for the second spot between Ashok, Lydia, and, Iname but what really stood out here was that she maintained the second position as the competition progressed and with four holes left, Aditi consolidated her second spot.

When it did seem that Aditi would hold on to the second spot without breaking much sweat, her medal rivals putted the 14th hole as the Indian golfer slipped down to third yet again before slipping down further to fourth. But. we just two holes to go and with a podium finish at stake, the Bengaluru golfer upped her game and was soon back in contention for a bronze medal.

There was a 49-minute rain delay and once play resumed, Aditi Ashok slipped to the fourth position and she remained under-15 which meant that she needed a birdie to remain in the medal contention, and eventually, it all came down to the 72nd hole of the tournament as Aditi's podium finish depended on it. Sadly, she could not get the job done and was out of the medal race.