Golfer Aditi Ashok in Second Place After Round 3, Silver Medal a Possibility

If there is no play on Saturday, Aditi Ashok will become the first Indian golfer to win a Silver medal.

Tokyo Olympics: Aditi Ashok is currently in second place with a 12-under and a total of 201

Image: PTI / Darron Cummings

Indian golfer Aditi Ashok on Friday finished Round Three of the Women's Individual Stroke Play in second position. She managed a Birdie on Holes 4, 6, 7, 15 and 17 to finish her round at three-under. She is currently 12-under with a total score of 201. However, round one and two were better for Aditi, where she finished 4-under and 5-under.

Aditi enjoys a two-stroke lead over Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who is currently tied third with Australia's Hannah Green, both being 10-under. USA's Nelly Korda (-15) is first on the leaderboard, with a total of 198 and enjoys a three-stroke lead over Aditi.

Round 4, which was to be held later today, has been rescheduled to Saturday, 7 August, at 3 am IST due to bad weather. If there is no play on Saturday, Aditi Ashok will win a Silver medal and become the first Indian to win an Olympic medal in golf.

Meanwhile, Diksha Dagar, the other Indian in the fray, finished round three with a one-over and is tied-51st with an overall 7-over.

Following the return of golf into the Olympic programme in 2016, no Indian golfer, men or women, has won a medal and Aditi knows fully well what a podium finish would mean for the game in the country.

Aditi Ashok with her mother as her caddie at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

(Photo: PTI)

However, she plans to stick to the proverbial "one shot at a time" routine when she joins Korda for the second successive day in the final group which will include Lydia Ko, the silver medallist in Rio.

"I think one more day of golf and a lot happens on the final day. Although it's just one round, it feels long mentally, so definitely staying patient and hoping we have good weather and hope I play good tomorrow," she said.

When she made her debut in Rio 2016 as the youngest competitor and featured in the top-10 in the opening two rounds before finishing 41st, Aditi attracted more curiosity as a wide-eyed teenager just out from school and soaking in the Olympic experience.

A medal for India on Saturday could well spark the positive change that so many clamour in a country where cricket is No. 1 and treated like a religion. She knows all eyes will be on her during the final round but is taking the pressure in her stride.

"I think nobody really follows golf as much. And whenever the Olympics comes around, it's always because we had a lot of sports where we were actually really good, like hockey, where we used to win gold medals all the time. I think with golf being in the second time, I think people are a lot more educated and trying to follow it a lot more," she said.

Aditi Ashok at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

(Photo: PTI)

"For sure (there will be pressure) but I'm not thinking about it that much. I think no matter how I do this week, people have heard about golf and they continue to tune in if they have extended the golf coverage in India because I'm in the top three. I think that's good itself. People seeing golf instead of the other sports, it's always good to get more people aware of the game."

With her mother, Maheshwari on caddying duties this week - her father was on the bag in Rio -- Aditi has enjoyed their time together and even thinks her good run in Tokyo has been due to girl power. "She's doing great. It's funny; this is the best I've played all year. My dad's enjoying watching me on TV and enjoys listening to Bones (Jim McKay) commentate on my game. So that's been cool. My mom has obviously done a great job," said Aditi.