Golfer Aditi Ashok remains strong at Olympics; holds 2nd spot after Round 3
Tokyo: Indian golfer Aditi Ashok carded a three-under 67 in the third round to hold on to the second position and remain in strong contention for the country's maiden Olympic medal in the sport here on Friday.
Aditi was 12-under 201 after three rounds and is the sole golfer in second position, three strokes adrift of leader Nelly Korda of USA who carded a two-under 69 in the penultimate round.
Four players -- New Zealand's Lydia Ko (66), Australia's Hannah Green (67), Demark's Kristine Pederson (70) and Japan's Mone Inami (68) -- shared the third spot with totals of 10-under 203.
Aditi fired five birdies and two bogeys on the day. She was three-under after picking up shots on fourth, sixth and seventh holes before bogeys on ninth and 11th pulled her back.
However, she made amends with birdies on the 15th and 17th to keep herself in the hunt for a historic medal.
The other Indian golfer in fray, Diksha Dagar, remained in the lower half of the leaderboard after an erratic one-over 72, her third successive over-par card of the week.
Dagar, who started from the back-nine, managed one birdie against two bogeys in her round on Friday.
This is Aditi's second Olympic appearance. She had finished tied 41st in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro edition.
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Deputy CM Shivakumar fumes at Minister Jarkiholi for his statement on replacing KPCC prez
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday hit out at Minister Satish Jarkiholi for his statement on replacing him as the party's state president.
Shivakumar has been serving as Congress state chief since 2020.
"Can anyone get it (post) in the media? You can't get it in the media or any shop. It is given as a reward for the work we do. Will the media gift it to you. These are new trends," Shivakumar told reporters here.
Jarkiholi on Wednesday sparked a debate within the ruling Congress over the change of the state president, saying a full-time leader was needed to devote more time to the party in the state.
According to him, while there is a lot of discussion happening at the lower levels, it should come from the top.
Later, he clarified that he never spoke about replacing Shivakumar as the Congress president.
Taking a U-turn from his statement apparently after a rap from the party high command, the minister on late Wednesday blamed the media for twisting his statement.
"The reports that appeared in the media are far from truth. Some media reports were made to look grandiose," Jarkiholi, who holds public works portfolio, said in a video statement on his Facebook page.
"I never spoke about replacing D K Shivakumar. I only gave some suggestions keeping in view the party organisation and upcoming elections," he added.
He said such statement should have come from the top, but it came from the ground level, to which he belongs.
Meanwhile, the Congress state working president Manjunath Bhandary on Thursday asked seniors to refrain from making such statements.
The seniors who violate the high command's orders are not disciplined soldiers of the Congress, Bhandary said in a statement.
According to him, the leadership of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi are strong in the party.
"The party high command leaders will decide all matters such as when to change the KPCC president and the chief minister, who should continue or who should be the ministers. However, no minister should give a statement in this regard," Bhandary said.
The decision on leadership change should not be discussed with the media. There is a high command in the party. If there are any issues, the party leaders should first bring them to the attention of the high command and not before the media, the Congress working president said.
He added that the high command has sought a report of those who have made such statements.
