Saturday was a day to remember for Indian golf. Especially women’s golf. Aditi Ashok made all of us proud. She may not have won a medal. The 23-year-old missed it by a whisker but she has done more than that. It’s a very big step forward for Indian golf.

Obviously a medal would have given us a little bit more joy but that is immaterial now. Since Friday morning the whole nation was talking about Aditi. I have been very closely associated with the sport for long but I have not seen this kind of euphoria before.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda of the US won the gold medal. Our own Aditi was just two strokes behind her. Nelly took gold with a four-round total of 17-under 267.

Japan’s Mone Inami and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who won silver and bronze, respectively, after a play-off for second place, finished only a stroke ahead of Aditi. The Indian finished at fourth place with 15-under 269. What an incredible performance! She was not outplayed, she fought till the very end. And I strongly believe this fighting spirit would help women’s golf in India in the coming days.

Playing golf in almost the same rhythm for four days itself is tough. Many factors are involved in it. The level of concentration, how your muscles behave, the weather and, of course, the course. She was very determined throughout the rounds.

Through the four days, Aditi was in contention to bag an Olympic medal. It was not an easy job. We all have to cherish the moment.

In our country nobody talks about golf. I do not blame them. Because we, the golfers, have not won anything remarkable. But Aditi has won the hearts of millions. That is why people are talking. We didn’t expect anything

from her. So it is giving us more joy. We have to encash the opportunity. Today the President of the country, the Prime Minister, other important political persons, sports lovers and others are all talking about golf. It is good for Indian golf.

This was Aditi’s second Olympics. In Rio 2016, she made her Olympics debut and finished a distant 41st. She didn’t get enough opportunities to prepare for the Tokyo Games owing to the pandemic. But still she has managed this kind of a performance, which is a very strong statement. Not only Aditi, Diksha Dagar, the other woman golfer who represented the country, also did a decent job.

Aditi’s performance in Tokyo gave me more satisfaction because it is like completing the full cycle for me. When I started playing golf, people had no idea about what I did. Very few people used to discuss the game. I used to think – one day people will know about the game and that time has arrived. Courtesy Aditi Ashok.

Smriti Mehra is a pioneer of women’s golf in India. She was the first woman from the country to become a member of the world’s leading golf tour for women, the US-based LPGA Tour