Diksha Dagar carded an opening round of one-under-par in the Women’s Olympic Golf Competition at Le Golf National.
The Indian star is making her second appearance at the Olympic Games after making her debut in Tokyo 2020 where she finished in a tie for 50th place.
It was a good start for Dagar in Paris as she rolled in her first birdie on the seventh hole, before making further birdies on the 11th and 14th holes.
After reaching three-under, it was a difficult finish for the 23-year-old with back-to-back bogeys, but she was still happy with her day as she sits in a share of seventh place on the leaderboard.
“I started very good,” she said. “I stayed in the fairway and found a lot of fairways today. The greens were very good, and when I had a birdie putt chance, I made some putts.
“I was going very good on the 16th hole; unfortunately, on the last holes I dropped two shots. On 18, it was already same mistake as on 17.
“It was a par-5, going on to the green and you are taking the birdie putt and I went aggressive. It can be hard, sometimes it’s in your favour, and some days it is not.
“I was happy, excited and a bit nervous at the same time because the Olympics is a very unique and big event, and especially because you are playing for your country.”
The two-time LET winner, who was born with hearing problems, remains the only golfer to have competed in both the Deaflympics and the Summer Games.
Dagar won the prestigious Arjuna Award – an accolade recognising outstanding performance in sports and games in India – at the end of last year.
The Olympian is a two-time medallist at the Deaflympics clinching a silver in 2017 and gold at the 2021 edition.
After a great start in Paris, Dagar is hoping to continue to inspire and be a role model for the deaf community.
She explained: “In the deaf Olympics, I won two medals and playing it is different. The golf course can be similar, sometimes it can be shorter.
“I never thought that when I was playing tournaments, but when the people come to me when I’m hitting it, and they are deaf like me. They ask and say I follow you, and it’s very inspiring to see you.
“It feels so good, like it feels amazing. At least I’m walking on the right path, and I want to do something better and inspire them more.”
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