Golfer Abhijit mounts challenge

LEADERBOARD

MEWAT, HARYANA: Reticent on the golf course, Abhijit Chadha was the opposite off it. Till the time order was restored, the 2010 Asian Games silver medallist does not remember stopping at a traffic light in Chandigarh. “In those days, the cops weren’t so strict, so I’d just make a dash after ensuring all was clear,” he said. The habit stayed till 2013, when he met Amit Bhattacharya, also Abhinav Bindra’s mental trainer.

The biggest takeaway was the calming influence. While Abhijit still refrains from throwing clubs when upset, like the couple of lipouts on Saturday but for which he could have had the lead going into the final day of the Classic Golf & Country Club International Championship instead of being two shots back (15-under 201).

“Amit told me I couldn’t be two personalities, there had to be balance.” Wiser, Abhijit, who secured his first victory on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) in 2012, went on to win

again in 2015. More than mounting the podium, the lessons from Bhattacharya were to come handy when he lost his card on the Asian Tour card the same year. Growing up in a joint family and being able to vent his feelings with parents and cousins after a bad round was a big outlet. “It was about golf initially but after that it would be any topic under the sun,” said Abhijit. His winless run is on, but the 28-year-old, having grown up watching father Mandeep’s struggles while setting up a construction business, persevered. He got his Asian Tour card back at the start of the year only to sit out for three months with a left shoulder injury. Sessions with Bhattacharya and sharing with the family what was on the mind, Abhijit is back, but not out of the woods.