Shubham Jaglan storms to the top of the world

Anand Datla

June 03, 2016: Shubham Jaglan is the world No.1 among the Boys 11 category. It is an astonishing accomplishment for a little boy that came from a village that knew nothing of sport beyond wrestling or boxing. Israna is a sleepy little village as far removed from golf as one might imagine. Shubham Jaglan’s emergence from the sleepy hamlet to a global golfing prodigy underlines how nature colludes to align forces to turn dreams into reality.

Yesterday, Shubham shot a sensational 66, soaring to a thirteen shot victory over a stunned field in Longniddry, Scotland. Playing against a field that will essentially repeat at the World Championships, Shubham stood head and shoulders over an international field of 70 golfers. It is truly impressive for a boy that started his journey in golf, playing in mustard fields.

The story of Shubham learning to golf from Youtube videos and using a cement mixer filled with sand to understand the nuances of bunker play seem to have laid the foundation for a promising future.

Nonita Lal Qureshi’s eye for talent and the Golf Foundation’s support for Shubham helped shine the light on the boy for all the world to see. He had the world’s attention last year soon as he won two of the three world championships for his category.

But his feat in Longniddry is an astonishing performance, beyond any that words can describe. In a tournament that if often closely fought and resolved in playoffs, Shubham destroyed the field with a single minded focus that is exceptional at his age.

Amit Luthra’s aggressive strategy for Shubham is paying rich dividends. The former Asian Games gold medallist has been the man behind the success of Shubham besides Nonita and the boy’s tireless father Jagpal. Shubham’s dominance over his peers presented unique problems to Luthra and Nonita. Even though Jagpal was worried that his boy might hurt his confidence, Luthra advised that the bar had to be pushed higher.

“The quality of the field in India is not very good. So he’d have to be pushed up to higher groups if we wanted him to get better,” explained Luthra in an interview to the Indian Express.

“The first step was making him compete in the U-14’s despite him being in the U-12. “At that age, every six months makes a big difference. So by making him play against bigger and tougher opponents, and challenging him to win those matches, he had no choice but to get in a greater degree of attacking golf.”

Shubham’s enormous success in Scotland is further proof that the boy has the talent and the work ethic needed to sustain his global success. Since his victory in the TaylorMade-Adidas World Junior Golf Tournament in 2013, Shubham has earned several international tournaments including the Junior World Golf Championships (Boys 9–10) last year.

The sensational victory at the Craigielaw Golf Club this week sets the stage for the boy in the 11 year old category. The story is far from over, with the world championships round the corner. Nothing short of victory would be acceptable either to Luthra or the young lad.