Sportstar·India·Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 11:50 AM UTC

When nerves mattered most: How Pranavi Urs kept her cool to strike gold

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Rakesh Rao

Pranavi’s triumph ended India’s 24-year wait for an Asian Games golf gold, the previous one coming in 2002 when Shiv Kapur won the men’s title. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Pranavi’s triumph ended India’s 24-year wait for an Asian Games golf gold, the previous one coming in 2002 when Shiv Kapur won the men’s title. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

It took Pranavi Urs a combination of luck and pluck to cling to a one-stroke lead when it mattered most. Having blown away her three-shot overnight advantage on the third hole of the final round, it appeared for a while that this would become another story of an Indian golfer letting a handy lead slip and watching gold disappear. But Pranavi did what Aditi Ashok could not at the previous edition of the Games in 2023.

The 23-year-old Mysuru golfer held her nerve, regained a one-shot lead after the 13th hole and kept it intact to sign off with a historic gold at Kasugai Country Club’s East Course, a par-70 layout.

Pranavi’s victory, therefore, was anything but a wire-to-wire procession. Once she surrendered her lead, she steadied her gold quest with composed golf under mounting pressure from world No. 6 Yin Ruoning and former European Order of Merit winner Shannon Tan. The duo eventually fought out a four-hole play-off for the remaining medals, with Yin taking silver and Shannon bronze.

Placed 13th in the previous edition, Pranavi became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games individual golf gold. Her triumph also ended India’s 24-year wait for an Asian Games golf gold, the previous one coming in 2002 when Shiv Kapur won the men’s title.

Pranavi’s consistency also helped India secure the silver medal in the women’s team event, alongside Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar. The team medal, too, was a first for India in women’s golf.

The Indian men — Saptak Talwar, Veer Ahlawat and Yuvraj Sandhu — finished sixth as a team. Saptak and Ahlawat shared sixth place in the individual standings.

From an Indian perspective, however, it was Pranavi’s performance that stood out for more reasons than one. A bright opening round of four-under 66 put her in second place on the first day. Although she remained three shots behind Shannon Tan, her confidence grew after the way she recovered from a bogey on the opening hole. With Aditi and Diksha both shooting 71s to share 18th place, the focus was firmly on Pranavi.

She carried that confidence into the second round, producing a superb bogey-free 63. Still in second place, she nevertheless cut Shannon’s overnight advantage by two shots. It was the third round that convinced Pranavi she could beat the field. Another 66 gave her a three-shot lead after Shannon slipped to a 71. Yin Ruoning was a further shot behind after a 66.

Indian hopes rose — and so did the pressure on Pranavi.

The final day quickly threatened to turn that confidence into heartbreak. On the par-four third, Pranavi suffered a triple bogey, wiping out her entire three-shot cushion in one hole. It was a cruel reminder of how Aditi had lost her overnight seven-shot lead in the final round in 2023, eventually settling for silver.

But Pranavi was determined to script a different ending.

She also helped India secure the silver medal in the women’s team event, alongside Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar (above). The team medal, too, was a first for India in women’s golf. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

On the remaining holes of the front nine, she responded with a birdie on the sixth and pars on the others. All the while, Yin Ruoning was doing the front-running, holding a one-shot advantage over the Indian. Then came the turning point.

Yin dropped a shot on the 10th, allowing Pranavi to draw level. The Indian stayed alongside the Chinese golfer for three holes before taking the outright lead with a birdie on the 13th.

With five holes remaining, the challenge was no longer about making up ground. It was about holding her nerve.

With Yin and Shannon breathing down her neck, Pranavi relied on pars to protect her slender advantage. But neither of her pursuers could find the birdies they needed. Hole after hole, Pranavi edged closer to gold. The final one presented one last test.

A water hazard added to the tension, and Pranavi did not hit a clean tee shot after changing clubs. She managed to clear the water and keep the ball in play, but she needed a much better approach to reach the par-four 18th green in regulation.

From outside the fairway, she produced exactly the recovery shot she needed, finding the green and keeping her gold hopes alive.

Her first putt, however, left her three feet from the cup.

“After my first putt, I was beating myself up for leaving it three feet short,” Pranavi said, describing the moment.

“I stood there and told myself to aim straight and hole the putt no matter what.”

Yin watched, hoping the pressure would finally crack the Indian.

It did not. Pranavi struck the putt firmly enough to find the bottom of the cup. The other two contenders also made par, leaving the Indian to savour the biggest moment of her career.

Interestingly, Pranavi herself was initially unsure whether she had won. She knew the final putt was either the putt that would give her gold or the one that would force a play-off

It was only after Shannon Tan congratulated her that she fully realised she had secured the gold medal.

Aditi, who had stayed away from the front-runners for much of the tournament, salvaged her campaign with a final-round 67 after rounds of 71, 74 and 70. Since the two best scores from each country count towards the team standings, Aditi’s performance proved crucial in India’s silver-medal finish. Diksha’s rounds of 71, 73, 71 and 77 did not count towards the team total.

The men, meanwhile, provided considerably less cheer.

Saptak Talwar shot rounds of 66, 68, 71 and 66, while Veer Ahlawat carded 71, 68, 65 and 67. Both finished tied sixth at nine-under 271. Yuvraj Sandhu (71, 69, 71, 70) finished tied 24th at 281.

Briefly, Saptak raised expectations with an opening-round 66 that put him in tied third place. He slipped to tied seventh at the halfway stage after a 68, before a 71 in the third round dropped him to 11th. His final-round 66 lifted him back into the top six.

Overall, for a change, the Indian women golfers outshone their male counterparts on the biggest stage.

With the Women’s Indian Open scheduled later this month, there is obvious reason for optimism in the Indian camp. Pranavi’s gold, Aditi’s contribution to the team silver and Diksha’s role in a historic women’s medal have given Indian women’s golf considerable momentum — and a champion to lead the way.

Final scores

Men’s Individual

Gold: Tom Kim Joo-Hyung (South Korea) — 18-under 262 (67, 66, 65, 64)

Silver: Higa Kazuki (Japan) — 15-under 265 (65, 67, 67, 66); won on the fourth playoff hole

Bronze: Sadom Kaewkanjana (Thailand) — 15-under 265 (70, 69, 63, 63); lost the playoff

Men’s Team (two best scores from three players from each country counted in each round)

Gold: China — 28-under 532 (Ding Wenyi, Jin Zihao and Zheng Yunhe)

Silver: South Korea — 26-under 534 (Kim Joo-Hyung, Mun Do-yeob and Kim Seong Hyeon)

Bronze: Japan — 23-under 537 (Higa Kazuki, Taishi Moto and Keita Nakajima)

6th: India — 18-under 542 (Saptak Talwar, Veer Ahlawat and Yuvraj Sandhu)

Women’s Individual

Gold: Pranavi Urs (India) — 15-under 265 (66, 63, 66, 70)

Silver: Yin Ruoning (China) — 14-under 266 (67, 66, 66, 67)

Bronze: Shannon Tan (Singapore) — 14-under 266 (63, 64, 71, 68)

Women’s Team (two best scores from three players from each country counted in each round)

Gold: China — 22-under 538 (Liu Yan, Yin Ruoning and Zhang Weiwei)

Silver: India — 14-under 546 (Pranavi Urs, Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar)

Bronze: Chinese Taipei — 10-under 550 (Pei-Yun Chien, Hsu Wei-ling and Yani Tsang)

Published on Oct 14, 2026

When nerves mattered most: How Pranavi Urs kept her cool to strike gold

Final scores

Men’s Individual

Men’s Team (two best scores from three players from each country counted in each round)

Women’s Individual

Women’s Team (two best scores from three players from each country counted in each round)

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