Bhubaneswar: Odisha is shining brightly on the Indian sporting horizon.
Now, the state is set to embrace a budding golfing star, Kashika Mishra.
The 16-year-old Kashika won the ITC Classic event of the Amway Nutrilite Golf Tour in Delhi on Friday, paving the way for her to be the first Odia woman to secure a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
It was a qualifying event for the FCG Callaway World Championship Junior Golf meet at Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage in California, USA, in July 2023. She has also been selected for the tour.
Kashika – who hails from Dharakot in Ganjam district of Odisha — took to golf rather late, at the age of 12. Her father Brigadier TK Mishra, posted at Delhi then, noticed Kashika’s talent and started taking her to the golf course. Brig. Mishra was her first coach and religiously took her for practice sessions before and after work everyday, despite his hectic schedule.
The routing continued even during the onset of COVID-19 pandemic.
Seeing her promise, Brig. Mishra took Kashika for full-time coaching with Raju James at DLF Academy, Gurugram.
Now Kashika trains with renowned coaches Anitya Chand and DP Singh at DLF Academy. She also plays at Delhi Golf Club and AEPTA, the Army golf course at Delhi.
Once she found her feet, Kashika has developed swiftly. She has won 9 tour events in 2022-23 and was runners-up in 2.
Her international appearances include PPTV International Junior Golf Championship in Thailand, FGC Callaway Golf Championship and USA Junior Championship, Singapore Junior Golf Championship and TJTD Junior Golf meet in Phuket.
Kashika attributes her rapid growth as a golfer to her parents, especially her mother Kiran.
While his father is posted in a forward area for the last two years, her mother singlehandedly helps her in daily practice, preparing and planning for tournaments, travelling.
Being from the Army background has helped Kashika immensely as she grew up in an environment where sports is encouraged and had easy access to golf courses.
A class XI student, her school — Shri Ram School, Gurugram – has been very supportive of Kashika and helps her manage play and studies. She attends school when there are no tournaments, and her school arranges extra classes if necessary.
That she doesn’t neglect her studies is clear from the fact that she consistently secures 90 percentile in the tough ICSE board curriculum.
