CHENNAI: The smile on Gaganjeet Bhullar’s face grew wider when he had to recall what happened at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. He along with Anirban Lahiri, Joseph Chakola, and Chiragh Kumar won silver in the men’s team event. “It’s been almost 20 years but in some of the social gatherings, I am still remembered for that silver medal," he said on the sidelines of an event by Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) franchise Vimtra Chennai Lions here on Friday.
As golfers look to prepare for a tough Asian Games, Olympian and 11-time Asian tour champion Bhullar offered his advice for the young troupe set to travel to Japan next month. Golf at the Asian Games will feature both individual and team events. It will take place from September 30 to October 3.
Bhullar said that the Asian Games is important for the likes of Yuvraj Sandhu and Sapthak Talwar, who have done well in India. Sandhu’s best performance of the year came at the DP World PGTI Open, where he finished sixth, Talwar’s best performance was the Indorama Ventures Open Golf Championship in March at Ahmedabad and securing joint-second finish at DP World PGTI. Talwar was the top Indian competitor.
However, the 38-year-old Olympian believes that time for them to perform well outside India has come.
“These guys have definitely done well on the Indian tour, now the real challenge starts when you start performing outside India, so I really hope and wish that they go out there and make it big, because it's very important, like what Jeev (Milkha Singh), Jyoti (Randhawa) and Arjun (Atwal) did, we got inspired, myself and Anirban. So we guys paved the way for the next generation, so now it's their responsibility to play well by winning tournaments.I really hope that they start winning, so that is going to be a game changer for the next generation,” he added.
That way the Asian Games could be the tournament where they can show their ability. But the field, according to Bhullar, won’t be easy. “It's tough actually, because South Korea is pretty strong, Japan is good. China, of course, has some good youngsters, so it's going to be a stiff competition, but, you know, like the Olympics, like these big competitions, of course, competition makes you a better golfer,” he said.