Golf: Fourteen-year-old Ranveer Singh Saini wins gold at Special Olympics

Golfer Ranveer Singh Saini created history by becoming the first Indian to win a Gold medal at the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles.

The 14-year-old autistic golfer achieved the feat in GF Golf-Level 2 Alternate Shot Team Play event in Friday.

Ranveer Singh Saini. Image courtesy: All India Radio News

Ranveer and his partner Monica Jajoo were nine shots clear of joint second-placed teams from Hong Kong (Tsz Leung Chung-Ka Kit Lam) and Nippon (Takefumi Hiyoshi-Tadatoshi Sakai).

The Gurgaon-based teenager was diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder characterised by impaired social interaction, at the age of 2. He took to the sport at the age of nine.

Two years ago Saini became the first Indian golfer to win two gold medals at the Asia Pacific World Games.

"The Indian Golf Union has supported Ranveer in his endeavour to bring more laurels for the nation. In 2013 Saini had won two gold medals at the Special Olympics Asia-Pacific Golf International in Macau. In LA, Saini will be competing against 300 ‘special golfers’," a pre-torunament release said.

After being impressed by Ranveer’s performances at the international level, the Indian Golf Union went all out in motivating renowned coach Anitya Chand to train the kid.

"Out of all the golf associations across India, the only organization which came up to us to support was the IGU. Each council member in the IGU recognized and applauded the great work done by Ranveer and came forward to sponsor his golf training from last year till he left for the Special Olympics World Games 2015 in Los Angeles. Now he is all set to battle for the country," said Kartikeya Saini, father of Ranveer Saini.

Anitya Chand who has coached Ranveer right from the onset f his career said, "From holding a club for the first time to winning in Macau, Ranveer has come a long way. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds because the biggest challenge for me was to communicate with him. Soon he realized that he should listen to me and now he hits a 260 yards ball and can play with any normal golfer."

“There were parts of his game, which needed some specific training so I have trained him according to that. He is also carrying some notes with him and is glued to the internet all the time to learn new golf technologies," added Anitya.

PTI