Interview with Shiv Kapur: "Anirban Lahiri has all the facets for being a great golfer"
Bursting into the limelight as a 20-year-old, Shiv Kapur achieved his first major success, even before he turned pro, when he won the gold at the Busan Asian Games in 2002. Two years later he turned pro and tasted success almost instantly in 2005.
Sportskeeda caught up with 33-year-old golfer and spoke to him about his journey, about Anirban Lahiri’s exploits and more.
Excerpts:
Q: As a 20-year-old, you won the individual gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan. How big an achievement was that for you?
A: It was the biggest achievement of my career. I have played in many international events which involve a lot of prize money, but it still marks in my mind as my single biggest accomplishment simply because I am a very patriotic person and that was an accomplishment for the country and it was a childhood dream. Because when I was about 12 years old, I had written an essay in school on what is your ambition in life and I said I wanted to win the gold at the Asian Games and I don’t know where that came from but that was something else.
And when I came back, my high school did a felicitation for me and my teachers said that you had written about this when you were in grade 7 and so that was like a culmination of a dream come true. So to talk about winning professional victories in certain events is very different to when you win a gold medal for your country because I remember standing on the podium, the feeling that you get when your national anthem is sung and when I landed at the New Delhi airport, every single person stood up and applauded me and I had tears coming out of my eyes and I said this is the proudest moment of my life.
Till date, when I recollect those days it gives me goose bumps and it was definitely the highlight of my career.
Q: You turned pro in 2004 and then a year later you had another big moment when you won the won the Volvo Masters in Asia in 2005. Did you see all that coming at a young age?
A: To be honest, like a lot of people, I didn’t set out to be a professional golfer. I just played the sport for fun and my parents weren’t keen that I became a golfer, they just wanted me to play golf as a sport, as a recreation and wanted me to pursue in education. But when I clinched the gold at Busan, suddenly I said, maybe I am quite good and maybe try it for a living.
And I had a deal with my parents, saying I’ll play professional golf for 5 years and if it doesn’t work out I’ll go back to business school and I’ll study.
So to have that success that I had very early on, to win the Rookie of the year and win the Volvo Masters came as a pleasant surprise. I won’t say that I didn’t back my own abilities but it wasn’t in my goal list or in my dreams because I had quite a slow start to the year. The first 6 months of the season I was 60th or 70th on the money list struggling to really keep my card.
But the back end of the year, I caught fire and I had 6 or 7 Top-5 finishes, lost in a play off and heading into the last tournament of the year, I was just happy to have kept my card alive on my first tour.
So a lot of it I was taken by surprise but I after that my own expectations grew and then suddenly I looked at myself as one of the top golfers rather than just anyone who was playing the sport for fun.
Q: Anirban Lahiri has been doing exceptionally well for India in several tournaments .What are your thoughts on him as a golfer and what do you think he should be doing going forward to further enhance India’s reputation as a developing golfing nation?
A: Well I think Anirban has done a lot of things right. I think he is only going to go from strength-to-strength. I don’t think there is any advice that I can give him that he isn’t doing already. I think he has got all the bases covered. He is hardworking, diligent. He is very focused, so I think he is on the right path. He is a very good ball striker and he has worked very hard on his short game and mental game.
So he has got the perfect all round game and I think he is closest India has come to what Jeev Milkha Singh was at his prime, and when he got to the Top 30 despite having an unorthodox golf swing. But he had all the assets- hard work, dedication and mental game and I think Anirban has all the facets for being a great golfer.
Q: In 2013, there was a Golf Premier League but unfortunately it hasn’t been conducted after its first year. How much do you think that helped in the development and how much do you think it helped in the world understanding that a new innovative concept can come from India?
A: There are two parts to that question. When I first came up with the format, I got a lot of adulation from all over the world, who said it was a fantastic concept, including the likes of Rory Mcllroy, Darren Clarke etc, who said that I had really nailed it and they also felt that golf needed a shorter format, just like Cricket needed a shorter format and it was very successful in its first year.
The reason it didn’t happen in the second or the third year is the typical issues which we have in India with the red tape and the bureaucracy issues. I am still owed money by the Indian Government which I never got paid and as a professional golfer, I was setting out to do something which was good for the sport. But when you don’t get paid the money, I am not in a position to keep underwriting a golf event. Our sponsors and partners were very good, but the ministry of tourism till date hasn’t paid the money that it had promised us.
So I am not in a position to doing it again. I have looked at doing the tournament outside of India, and its sad and unfortunate that a concept that took berth in India is going to be done somewhere outside and not in its own country because of the same old issues.
As patriotic as I am, I understand the issues and that’s why sport in India suffers and hopefully one day, we can get over the issues.
Q: How confident are you about the upcoming crop of golfers in India and how confident are you that they are getting right sort of grooming and can eventually go and perform well in overseas competitions and do well?
A: I think there are two parts to that question again. Firstly, I don’t think they are getting the right coaching because I think the coaching structure in India is not structured well enough as compared to other parts of the world.
We have a huge talent base. We have a lot more golf courses now then when I started out. So there is greater access to the sport and international competitions.
Earlier if you wanted to play against the best players in the world, you would have to go out and play and make an effort yourself. But now you have many tournaments in India where you can test yourself against the best in the world. But as far as coaching goes, I still think the structural coaching is still fractured and we still don’t have golf schools and training facilities for people to be world beaters.
Q: Shiv on the spot: The Arjuna award or the gold at Busan. The bigger achievement for you?
A: Winning the gold at Busan by far because I got the Arjuna award as a result of my exploits on the field. The Arjuna award is a selfish accomplishment, something for me but winning the gold for India was something that a lot of people celebrated and enjoyed.