New Delhi, Oct. 4 -- Pranavi Urs comes from Mysuru, a scenic city famous, among other things, for its annual festival parade, literary figures, erstwhile royalty. Add to that list the newly minted queen of golf. On Saturday at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the 23-year-old won a historic gold - the first by an Indian woman, and the first since Shiv Kapur's men's title at Busan in 2002. It was a display of steel and execution of a high level under pressure. Pranavi ticked both those boxes at the Kasugai Country Club East Course. The reward for coming through the wringer of a final round was a thrilling one-shot victory over China's Yin Ruoning, the world No.6, a former world No.1 and Major winner, and a winner on the LPGA last week. Also breathing down the Indian's neck was Singapore's Shannon Tan, an accomplished golfer and the halfway leader. Pranavi tallied 15-under 265 (66, 63, 66, 70) after a rollercoaster of an even par final round. Yin took silver in a playoff with Tan. Yin showed her class and almost forced a gold-medal playoff, only for the long birdie putt to lip out on the 18th. Pranavi's short par putt to seal gold didn't even register on the youngster, who later said she wasn't sure if she had won or only gone into a playoff. She merely smiled while hugging her playing partners, but the festivities began when Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar ran on to the green and poured water over Pranavi, the ritual to celebrate the winner on the tour. The trio secured the team silver, 14-under to China's winning 22-under aggregate. Chinese Taipei took the bronze (-10). The day was anything but routine. Pranavi, although leading by three shots (-15), would have been wary of the lurking Tan (-12) and Yin (-11). Besides, Aditi had missed gold at 2023 Hangzhou after a disastrous last round 77 pushed her to silver. And as if to test Pranavi's resolve, she triple-bogeyed the third hole - she dropped shots in only three holes all tournament. But staying focused to birdie the 6th, 10th and 13th. Pranavi's victory is likely to be a great milestone in Indian women's golf. Having started playing aged 8, she was 14 when she represented India in the 2017 amateur Malaysian Open and the Asia Pacific Sirikit Cup. Uploading her statistics on Upgame app, a performance tracking and analytics platform used by players and coaches, led to selection for a golf scholarship in the Bahamas. Her game development has been helped by Aussie golf coach Steven Guiliano. Ahead of the Asian Games, Pranavi told HT how the last three years on the Ladies European Tour, tackling conditions and top opponents, has raised her level. "It's a monumental day for Indian golf, and women's golf in particular," said Indian pro Karandeep Kochhar, Pranavi's partner. "Ever since she went to the LET, she has become incredibly consistent. But for her to come out and perform as well as she did after the triple bogey and beat one of the world's best players showed how strong she is mentally," Kochhar told HT. "The experience of playing in every tough condition in Europe has made the difference." Pranavi spoke of nerves leaving her sleepless overnight and the delight of becoming the first Indian woman to win the Asiad gold. She can now carry the confidence to try and win a first LET title at this month's Indian Open....