Disheartened at lack of support for Aditi Ashok: WGAI Chief

Disheartened by the lack of support for Aditi Ashok during the Rio Olympics, Women Golf Association of India (WGAI) president Kavita Singh on Tuesday  appealed to the central government to nurture talents from across the country keeping the Tokyo Olympics in mind.

Aditi became the first Indian and youngest women golfer in the world to compete at the Rio Olympics.

The Bangalore girl, playing as a rookie on the LET, became the first Indian golfer to secure a top 10 finish on the tour, when she secured tied ninth position at the ISPS Handa Ladies European Masters and then bettered it with a sixth place finish at the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De Espana Femenino.

She is currently placed 3rd in the LET Rookie of the Year ranking.

"What Aditi did at Rio Olympics was a huge achievement and that too without any support from the Indian contingent.

It might not be politically correct for me to say this I am disheartened by the response that Aditi received. She didn't get the recognition that she deserved," Kavita said.

"In countries such as China and Korea, the way they go about nurturing young talent, we also need to do that and We want all the support, facilities, equipments and golf courses for our players. We need academies across our country to nurture players from villages and towns."

Champika Sayal, WGAI Secretary General, also stressed on the importance to nurture the young talents.

"The race to 2020 Olympics is getting younger. Aditi has set a benchmark not only in India but globally and we have to move now at missile speed to get the young players between 13-18 years of age to break her record," she said.

The Indian atheltes, including the golfers, had lot of difficulties at the Olympics when they were misinformed about the periodicity and timing of the shuttle bus to the respective arenas and airports.