Miffed WGAI blames sloppy IGU for Aditi Ashok's Arjuna snub

The Women's Golf Association of India (WGAI) accused the Indian Golf Union (IGU) for the talented youngster, Aditi Ashok, missing out on the Arjuna Award for the second year in a row.

The WGAI lashed out at the IGU's lackadaisical approach while pitching for the Arjuna Award for Aditi. Shubhankar Sharma—IGU's nominee for the award—was the lone golfer to receive the award on Tuesday in a glittering ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Aditi is the best-ranked Indian woman golfer in the world and the only one with the full membership card on both the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour.

In 2016, besides featuring at the Rio Olympics, she was declared Rookie of the Year on LET, ended second in her maiden year on Ladies European Tour Order of Merit, won the Hero Women's Indian Open and the Qatar Ladies Open—both European Tour events. In 2017, she played the LPGA and won the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open.

“This has happened for a second year in a row. Aditi Ashok deserved the Arjuna Award. She became the only Indian woman golfer to qualify for the Rio Olympics and then followed it up with two European Tour wins in her rookie year,” said WGAI president Kavita Singh.

“Last year, too, the IGU never pushed it. It was the same this year,” she said, expressing her acute displeasure at the repeated snub by the IGU officials. She was speaking at the media interaction for the Hero Women's Indian Open to be held from October 18-21 at the DLF Golf Course in Gurugram.

Champika Sayal, WGAI secretary general, described the miss as “shocking”.

“It is simply shocking. The R&A which governs the sport of golf worldwide and under whose aegis the IGU, too, comes, has recently brought out the new women's golf charter which looks to eradicate gender imbalance in golf. The IGU is bound by it,” she said.

“The last woman golfer to get the Arjuna Award was Nonita Lal Qureshi which was way back in 1987. Imagine what it would do to women's golf if Aditi had been recognised. When women wrestlers, boxers can get the Arjuna Award, why not women golfers?”

Till date, only three Indian women golfers have been decorated with the Arjuna Award—Anjali Desai in 1972, Sita Rawlley in 1977 and Nonita Lal Qureshi in 1987.

The IGU, represented by its director general Major General (retd.) Vibhuti K. Bhushan, however, passed the buck on to Aditi, saying that the IGU had intended to recommend her name, too, but the golfer failed to respond to their emails in time. “We had sent both Shubhankar and Aditi the relevant forms which make up the formalities for the recommendations. Shubhankar signed the forms duly and reverted but there was no response from either Aditi or her mother. We waited till the last date,” he said.

In fact, he shrugged off the controversy saying, “Aditi can always get it next year”.

The WGAI, however, refused to buy his defence, saying that they should have been kept in the loop and if the IGU failed to get through to the travelling golfer, they should have requested the WGAI to also pursue with the Bengaluru-based golfer. “The Standard Operating Procedures are followed by the IGU, they are the main body to recommend names. If they were unable to get through to her, they should have asked us. We would have pursued it on our front with Aditi. But they never shared the matter even once with us,” said Sayal.

The IGU is itself living on borrowed time, with the sports ministry offering it a reprieve of sorts by extending its interim recognition for a three-month period last week. The IGU is the governing body for both amateur men and women's golf in India. It was de-recognised in April for non-compliance with the National Sports Code. It has been asked to bring its constitution in line with the National Sports Code and hold elections accordingly.