Ali Sher & Ashok Malik win veterans

Ali Sher and Ashok Malik were honoured with the Veterans Award in recognition of their contribution to golf

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Feature by Anand Datla

 

February 20, 2015: Even as golf is taking new wings in India, the TAKE Solutions India Golf Awards 2015 on February 16 served to offer just the kind of breeze needed to help it take flight. Through an evening marked by brilliant energy and joyous celebration the awards ceremony honoured the best and brightest golfers. These are men and women that shall carry our golf to great heights soaring into the sky like an Eagle. Ali Sher and Ashok Malik were recognised for their contribution to the game, being honoured with Veterans Award at the function.

 

In its second edition, the awards night was another glorious success as it brought cheer and energy to the cream of Indian golf. The event was hosted by golfingindian.com in the presence of Power Minister Piyush Goyal, the top golfers of the country and business executives at the Dusit Devarana.

 

Ali Sher won the Veterans Award for a career that ignited a new hope for the game in India. The diminutive golfer was the first Indian to win the Indian Open.  He opened the floodgates for Indian golf with his memorable victory in 1991. Sher was rewarded by the government with an Arjuna Award at the height of his prowess.

 

Ashok Malik, five time winner of the All India Amateurs shared space with Sher, being recognized among the Veterans category.  Malik, like Sher is an Arjuna Award winner and is considered by many to have been a pioneering influence on golf in India.  He was very successful on the course before spreading his wings into business and other leadership pursuits related to golf.

 

“Recognition plays a vital role in the development of a professional golfer,” said Ali Sher. “Things have improved from the past, but there is a still a long way to go before golf is given its due.”

 

The celebration brought together some of the most prominent personalities in the country – golfing corporate honchos, celebrities, bureaucrats and national leaders assembled eagerly to participate in an acknowledgment of everything that is great about Indian golf.

 

With the Indian Open scheduled for the weekend, there was plenty of international interet at the bespoke ceremony inside the Dusit Devarana.

 

The awards themselves were the result of passionate debate among an elite jury, consisting of seven pre-eminent individuals from diverse backgrounds. The jury was moderated by octogenarian golf legend, Peter Thomson. Among the panel were HR Srinivasan, Champika Sayal, Ashok Malik, Ashish Bharatram, Rajesh Dhingra and Gaurav Ghei.

 

It was a star studded evening given the roster of accomplished individuals that attended the awards. The event was also made special by the presence of a host of celebrities and golfers. The event was attended in strength by golfers from the Asian Tour besides some of the most eminent professionals from India.

 

India Golf Awards, 2015 were supported by TAKE Solutions, a bell weather technology company and golfingindian.com, the primary resource for everything golf in India. Another memorable evening in the bag, Indian golf can continue its steady march up the hills in its quest for greater glory.

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