Above par: Diksha Dagar claims gold medal at Deaflympics

Caxias (Brazil), May 12

Indian golfer Diksha Dagar outplayed American Ashlyn Grace Johnson in the final to bag the gold medal at the Deaflympics, fulfilling her promise of improving upon her silver-winning performance at the 2017 edition.

Dagar is now the only golfer with two Deaflympics medals. She had won a silver in 2017 in Turkey.

The 21-year-old, who is a professional with victories on the Ladies European Tour, completed a dominant performance with a 5 and 4 win in the final of the match-play section. She beat Johnson with four holes to spare.

The battle for the bronze was fought hard as Frenchwoman Margaux Brejo ended Norwegian Andrea Hovtsein’s attempt for a second medal on the third playoff hole. Hovtsein was the bronze medallist in 2017.

In 2017, when golf was first introduced, Dagar was an amateur and still reached the final comfortably. She lost in a playoff to American Yost Kaylin, who at that time was also playing in the Symetra Tour and other events of the LPGA Tour.

In 2021, Dagar had qualified at the last moment for the Tokyo Olympics and became the first-ever golfer to have played at the Deaflympics and the Olympic Games.