Golf
Tokyo Olympics: Golfer Aditi Ashok misses out on a medal by a whisker
Aditi Ashok finished fourth with under 269 at the Tokyo Olympics.
The star Indian golfer Aditi Ashok failed to win a medal in the women's golf stroke play after she finished fourth with under 269 at the Tokyo Olympics.
The final round did not start as Aditi would have hoped. Even though she putt par in her first four holes, she found herself falling down to a tied under par 12 with Denmark's Emily Pederson and the Japanese Mone Inami while New Zealand's Lydia Ko overtook her for the second spot.
The first birdie for Aditi on the day came during her fifth hole, which helped her take the sole third position with under 13, and a birdie in the sixth meant that she climbed back to the tied second spot yet again as Lydia Ko could only come up with a par after four consecutive birdies.
Though the 23-year-old Indian could only hit a par in the seventh hole, a double bogey for the leader, Nelly Korda, of the USA meant that there was a three-way tie for the first position, with Aditi Ashok, Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko all tied at under 14.
Following a par for all the three leaders on the eighth hole, a bogey for Aditi on the ninth meant that she fell down to tied third with Denmark's Kristine Pederson at under 14.
The leaderboard saw drastic changes through the day with each passing shot. Aditi Ashok moved to the second spot with a three-way tie at under 14 after Lydia Ko putt a bogey at the tenth hole. However, a bogey for the Indian in the eleventh hole meant that she fell to the tied third position.
After lagging at the third spot for a couple of holes, Aditi Ashok moved to tied second with under 14 with a birdie at the end of the 13th hole. With just five more holes to go, things were heated at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.
While a birdie in the 14th shot helped her climb to tied second, only par in the 15th meant that the Indian fell down to 4th position with under 15 - one stroke behind the tied second held by Mone Inami and Lydia Ko.
It was a round that showed Aditi both highs and lows of life, as the youngster moved into tied third in the 16th next hole after a bogey by Lydia Ko and then was pushed down to fourth after she missed a birdie and the New Zealander converted it in the very next hole.
The birdie miss on the 17th hole proved to be a big blow for the Indian, as Lydia Ko pipped her for the third spot and catching her in the final hole was always going to be difficult.
Needing a birdie badly in order to force a second-place tie-breaker, the world number 200 Aditi Ashok managed only a par to bring curtains on her sensational campaign in Tokyo, finishing fourth.
The other Indian in contention in women's stroke play, Diksha Dagar, finished tied 50th with a final score of under 290.
