We're getting better in Olympics, says Mehar Atwal on Indian golfers' performance

New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) Golfer Mehar Atwal heaped praises on India's golf campaign led by Shubhankar Sharma and Aditi Ashok in the Paris Olympics and said that the country's performance is getting better in the sport. Shubhankar and Gaganjeet Bhullar represented India in the men's event while Aditi and Diksha Dagar qualified for the women's event. 

In their Olympic debut, Shubhankar and Gaganjeet finished T40 and T45, respectively in the men’s golf event. The former Asia No. 1 Shubhankar achieved India's best-ever men's result in golf in the Olympics. He surpassed Anirban Lahiri's previous best result of T42, attained during the Tokyo Games.

In the women's event, Aditi, who was playing her third Olympics, finished T29 while Diksha managed a T49 finish. In the Tokyo Olympics, Aditi had finished fourth.

"Each year we're getting better in the Olympics and golf worldwide in general. Especially women's golf has come up in the last 10 years, there's been a huge improvement, and a lot of girls play on European tours. Earlier, you would see one or two now you have a good bunch of 7-8 girls who play," Mehar told IANS.

"Shubhankar always makes us all very proud, he's been there for a while. Aditi is also there for a while and doing us all proud. It's great because when you see people from your own country playing at a certain level and doing well, you know that you can also play at that level," she said.

When asked about her thoughts on PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundy, who said 'It's just a matter of time before an Indian wins a major title in golf', Mehar echoed her sentiments saying, "I totally agree with him. Just any time now. It's so close and can't even tell you that. We're right on top, week after week we're finishing in the top 10 and hopefully the next time we'll have a winner."

"There are so many players on the top. There are a lot of girls who can also win events, my sister plays and my friends also play outside. It's a matter of time before one of them wins a major. I put my money on Shubhankar at the moment (to win a major title for India). He is grinding it out and playing well. He is playing week after week on the European tour. I can't pinpoint any player in particular but many top players in the country will win events," she added.

Reflecting on her win against SwingKings, she said, "I had a great day today, I played well so it's a bonus. I really enjoyed myself and my opponents were nice."

"So for me, I'm already an experienced player and I didn't take any mentorship help. I've played for India and I'm quite experienced in that sense. We've Aditya Singh and Rahul Bajaz, who've been giving us nice tips over the last month or so and their information has helped.

"Whenever anyone asks me for any advice, I share my wisdom with them," she added.

On the impact of the Delhi Golf Club League on the young golfers, Mehar said, "It's really good and it's competitive so if they (youngsters) play in this kind of environment, it's a good stepping stone for them. When they know where they stand here it would help them going forward. When you play golf, it's an individual sport but when you play in the league, it's a team event and here you're playing for people.

Talking about her competitive future, Mehar said, "I just became an amateur this year. So, as of now, I have no plan of really playing golf at a competitive level as such. I just want to take a little bit of a sabbatical. I was a pro and I came out of it. Settling in, and playing some club events for the end of this year at least. From next year onwards I will see what I want to do."