At 16, Bengaluru’s Avani Prashanth is perhaps the youngest golfer ever to represent India at the Asian Games in Hangzhou next month.
“It has always been my dream to represent my country in both the Asian Games and the Olympics,” said Avani, in a telephonic chat with The Hindu, from Sweden.
“Back in 2016, my dad [M.S. Prashanth] used to talk to me about playing for India and prepared a training chart likewise. So, when the trials came in 2022, I made it to the team but unfortunately the event got cancelled,” said Avani, who started playing golf at the age of three.
Making it to the team again this year came as a huge sigh of relief for this young champion. “I think it has come at the right time as I was able to play a lot internationally.”
Mentored by Laurence Brotheridge of Great Britain for over four years, Avani said: “My coach always liked the uniqueness of my swing though it is not of the textbook kind. In fact, my strength lies in my swing and, I am hitting it longer than all the other professionals in the world. I am also a rounded player now.”
About the medal chances, she said: “the women’s team, this time, is probably the best it has ever been. All of us are going for the gold.”
She also has an eye on an individual medal. To realise that, she is working on her short-game. “That’s something every golfer wants to improve upon. I am trying a range of shots and also getting the tough ones together. It is basically to prepare myself for anything that comes my way in China,” said Avani, who is busy with the Ladies European Tour Access Series event in Sweden.
She plans to travel to Amsterdam and then take a short break to join her family in Bengaluru before boarding the flight to China. “The break is not to relax but to do chalk out a clear plan and prepare on the different parts of my game before the Asiad, she quickly added.”
