Tokyo Olympics: Solid start by Aditi in women's golf, placed second ahead of big names
Tokyo: Indian golfer Aditi Ashok got off to a brilliant start at the Olympic Games, carding a four-under 67 in the opening round for a share of the second spot at the Kasumigaseki Country Club here on Wednesday.
Aditi, who caught the golfing world's attention five years ago at the Rio Olympics, shared the position with World No. 1 Nelly Korda.
She was one shot behind the leader, Madalene Sagstrom of Sweden, who shot 66.
"I think I played better than I expected today because I had a lot of hybrids into the greens, so I didn't really expect to be like 5-under through 17," Aditi said.
Aditi may well have had a share of the lead but for a bogey on the 18th hole.
While Sagstrom shot a bogey free five-under 66, Aditi had five birdies against one bogey and that on the closing hole.
She was placed well ahead of some big names in women's golf, including the formidable defending champion, Inbee Park (69).
India's other entrant in the field, Diksha Dagar (76) had a rough start in her maiden Olympics as she had five bogeys and no birdies to lie at the tied 56th spot.
The 60-player field will play 18 holes each day and there will be no cut, so all players get to play 72 holes.
Aditi birdied fifth and ninth from 15 feet and seven feet respectively.
On the back nine, she added birdies on the 13th from 15 feet and another from almost 18 feet on 17th.
In between, she had another birdie on 14th from under three feet after a superb approach. Placed at 5-under she bogeyed the last after missing a par from under seven feet.
"But, I kind of holed some (good) putts and holed important par putts as well which kept the momentum. So, yeah, it was a good day," she said.
Five years ago when Aditi got into the Olympics, her father, Ashok, was on the bag and this time around it is was her mother, Maheshwari, who has been a big influence on her.
"Yeah, my mom, she's caddying for me. Last time I had my dad on the bag, so the experience was just so incredible. I was like I want to have my mom next time and I made good on that promise," Aditi said.
Aditi said she was a rookie last time but now has the wealth of experience.
"...I just finished my high school exams and then I was at the Olympics in two months. But this time I think definitely a lot more experience, just playing on the LPGA the last five years makes you way better as a player than I was at Rio.
"And I think the Olympic experience was, I didn't finish as well as I wanted to last time, but just seeing the effect that it had on golf in India was inspiring and that's kind of what motivated me for this one as well."
The 23-year-old from Bengaluru, who has 18 Major appearances, had attracted global attention with a start of 68-68 in the first two rounds at Rio, but then faded to T-41st.
Among others, South Korea's world number two Ko Jin-young , Finland's Matilda Castren and Spaniard Carlota Ciganda were tied fourth after all three carded 3-under 68 each.
The South Korean team also boasts of the reigning Olympic champion Park Inbee (69) and World No. 4 Kim Sei-young (69) who are Tied-7th and sixth-ranked Kim Hyo-joo (70) who is T-16th.
New Zealand's former World number one Lydia Ko (70) was four behind the leader, while Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn, a double major winner, stumbled to 77 with six bogeys and is tied for 58th in the 60-player field.
Major winners Feng Shanshan of China and Canadian Brooke Henderson shot 74 each.
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Fact Check: Muslim man urinates on Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli? No, the claim is false
Claim: The video shows people thrashing a Muslim man for urinating on a Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.
Fact: The claim is false. Raebareli's Bachhrawan Police Station SHO OP Tiwari confirmed to NewsMeter that the accused’s name is Vinod and he belongs to the Hindu community.
Hyderabad: In the context of the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh, a video has surfaced showing a group of people assaulting a man while using abusive language against him. Those sharing the video claim the man being assaulted is a Muslim man who was allegedly caught by the locals for urinating on photos of Maha Kumbh and Hindu deities displayed on a wall.
An X user, Baba Banaras, who has been caught several times indulging in misinformation, shared the video and wrote, “Rae Bareilly, UP: Abdul Urinates on Photos of Mahakumbh and Hindu Deities on Wall, Caught by Locals. (sic)” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. While the video is from Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, our investigation revealed that the man accused of urinating belongs to the Hindu community.
We conducted a keyword search and found reports by Amar Ujala and India Daily published on January 11. Both reports mentioned the viral video which captured the assault.
According to these reports, the incident allegedly occurred on the evening of January 10, 2025, at the main intersection of Bachhrawan town in Raebareli. Locals caught the accused and assaulted him, while someone at the scene recorded the incident and shared the video on social media.
Neither report named the accused nor specified his community. However, mentioned that inspector OP Tiwari stated an investigation into the viral video is ongoing.
We also found another X user sharing the video with the same communal claim. However, the X handle of Raebareli police replying to the post clarified that the man being assaulted in the video is Vinod, a hawker from Kannauj district, who, in an intoxicated state, urinated near the wall, unaware of the presence of the Kumbh poster. The reply also clarified that the claim that Vinod belongs to a different community is false and baseless.
— Raebareli Police (@raebarelipolice) January 13, 2025
NewsMeter reached out to Bachhrawan SHO OP Tiwari, who refuted the claim that the accused belongs to the Muslim community. He clarified, “The accused’s name is Vinod, also known as Dinesh, son of Bharat, and he belongs to the Hindu community.”
Tiwari also shared a press release about the incident issued by the Bachhrawan Police Station. The statement confirmed that the accused, Vinod alias Dinesh, was arrested in accordance with the law and presented before the court.
Therefore, we conclude that the claim of a Muslim man urinating on a Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli, UP, is false.
(This story was originally published by newsmeter.in, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
