You may have heard of injured golfers winning the trophies, but have you ever heard of a disabled golfer taking the lead? Yes, that’s right, we’re talking about the Indian sensation, Diksha Dagar. The golfer has several wins and medals under her belt, all while being profoundly deaf. 

Came as a surprise, didn’t it? Well, a lot of people were shocked to see a person with a cochlear implant taking home the trophies. Dagar won her first title at the 2019 South African Women’s Open, which was also the year she turned pro. This year she is proudly representing her country India at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Here is the story of the struggle she endured to be successful, it all started when she was only 7. 

Diksha Dagar and her brother Yogesh Dagar were both born with a condition that makes them profoundly deaf. This means they cannot hear and rely on lip-reading and sign language to communicate. Imagine how their parents must’ve felt when they discovered not one, but both of their children couldn’t hear their voices. “The signs were there when she was just a few months old. She was not responding to the sound”, said Dagar’s father, in an interview with the Indian Express. 

It sounds terrifying, doesn’t it? Well, it was, but the golfer’s father, Colonel Narinder Dagar, didn’t lose hope. He wanted to give both his kids a normal life like other children. Yet he also wanted them to have that confidence, so he got them into sports. Which was not hard as the golfer was amazing at tennis, swimming, and athletics ever since she was young.

Her father, a former scratch golfer himself, was not much bothered about the academics: “If you want to excel in sports, you will have to compromise somewhere. If someone is representing the country, she cannot attend school as regularly as other students,” said the golfer’s father. With her family’s support, Dagar nailed her athletic skills and decided to pursue golf as her career.

It was her coach, Amandeep Johl, who noticed her talent. He is immensely proud of her and speaks very highly of her but also has a couple of pointers for her. “The best thing about her is that she picks things up very fast and very rarely makes the same mistake twice. She has an all-round game but needs to improve her mental focus and rhythm,” said the national coach for the Indian golf team for the 2018 Asian Games.

Being disabled, or rather, being specially-abled, has never affected Dagar’s attitude or resilience. She remains determined and hopes to work to make golf more popular in India for women. 

Diksha Dagar is a strong-headed person

She became the youngest Indian women golfer to win on the Ladies European Tour at the 2019 South African Open. With her family’s support, the golfer won two medals in Deaflympic golf. Dagar won her first silver medal at the 2017 Deaflympic Games and secured a gold in 2021. Dagar’s impressive golf career has seen amazing milestones, but there is one performance that stands out in particular. Her excellent performance in a major golf tournament to date was at the 47th AIG Women’s Open, where she finished tied at T21.

But that’s not all—there’s more to her story! Dagar engraved her name in history when she became the first golfer to compete in both the Deaflympics and the Olympics at the 2020 Tokyo Games. But how does she achieve all this? Dagar’s motivation comes from a few golfers and athletes in the industry, including golfing legend Tiger Woods and tennis superstar Novak Djokovic. The golfer really admires these players for their attitude towards the game.

“I love his attitude. There are times when he gets so angry when he is playing badly,” she said, referring to Djokovic, in an interview with The Times of India. She considered Woods a golf magician, which, let’s be honest, he is. “His attitude is to focus on the game and not to be put off by anyone,”  she said.

Do you think these inspirations can drive India’s Diksha Dagar to become a medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics as well? Let us know in the comment section below!