Gurugram golfer Ranveer savours 2nd Special medal

Chandigarh: India had a rich haul of 368 medals — including 85 gold and 154 silver — at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi recently. It’s a record for India at the event, in which a 284-member team represented the country.

It was an especially happy event for Ranveer Singh Saini and Monica Jajoo, who won their second consecutive Special Olympics World Games medal. Winner of gold at Los Angeles in the 2015 edition of the event, they finished with silver in Abu Dhabi.

The Indian pair led in the first three rounds and looked set to clinch gold, leading right up to the 15th hole in the last round. However, they were overtaken by USA in the final stages and ended up with silver, ahead of Norway and Denmark.

“I am very happy that both of us gave a tough fight to our opponents from the US. I fought like Tiger Woods,” says 18-year-old Ranveer, a student of Gurugram’s Scottish High International School. “I have now started my training for 2023 World Olympics, to be held in Berlin.”

Ranveer has excelled in golf after overcoming several challenges, after being diagnosed with autism at age 2. Monica, 48, is his unified partner, ie without disability.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)