She takes her stance on the golf course, and then goes on it hit a hole-in-one. And no, it does not happen as frequently as she would like it to, but Sharmila Nicollet is aiming for the stars and hopes to conquer the greens with her strokes and accuracy in 2014.
The young golfer who travels the world playing might have hit a low with injuries in 2013, but her feisty spirit is ready for tours in India, Europe and Asia in 2014.
Her fitness regime is now her top priority, “My routine is about working out every day. It’s tough to get a good gym everywhere so I carry a thera band, that helps me. Six times a week is my goal. I was in Dubai recently, and it was my first time there. I found the golf courses beautiful,” says Sharmila.
While on the course, she is a vision of concentration and focus. In life too, Sharmila is a straight shooter. “I am blunt and say what I feel. I feel honesty is the best way forward. I am also fun-loving and energetic.”
There is a bit of a wild streak in her too, “I have a great sense of adventure Water sports and cars are my favourites. I also love jet skiing, shark diving and bungee jumping, but not in India, somewhere abroad. I recently went shark diving in South Africa and it was a memorable experience. Anything that gets my adrenaline high is on my bucket list. My next is skydiving — I want to do it over Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, hopefully for the Olympics, I will be able to find time to do it,” says Sharmila, who started playing golf when she was just 12.
She was also a state-level swimmer, played basketball and did a bit of horse-riding too. And the girl loves her machines too. She owns a modified Honda Civic and is now looking to change her car into an Audi. But a little-known secret about the star is that she is also an amateur perfumer.
“My mom, Padmini, makes aggarbattis and manufactures chemicals. When I was younger, I used to make my own perfumes and experiment, though I don’t have the time now. I like sweet floral perfumes, and you need to invest a lot of time into perfuming, but sometime in the future I would love to start a line of perfumes,” she adds.
The gizmo girl loves new gadgets and gets a hold of all new Apple products and even loves photography, taking her Canon DSLR?everywhere. In fact, she has a plethora of hobbies that keep her busy.
“I love animals and when I play golf at the Karnataka Golf Association in Bengaluru, a few mutts always follow me around. At home, I have a fish, a german shepherd and a dalmation.”
Sharmila owes her success mostly to her mother, “My mom has been supportive — 100 percent. Being in an Indian mindset where parents want children to study, my family has encouraged me to take up sports,” she adds.
Living with her mother and grandmother, Sharmila has serious plans for her future. “I am ambitious. I want to be a world number one someday,” she adds. The amateur lady golfer of the year in 2007, who got the Pride of Karnataka Award by Roundtable 2013 and the Sports Excellence Award by Rotary Club 2013, also hopes to play better.
“Playing in Europe has taught me a lot as the courses are so different from India. I had to train harder, start yoga and avoid injuries. But I feel I haven’t played upto my full potential and I was also injured recently, so I had to sit out for five to six months, which is not easy at all. I just need to make many sacrifices to get where I want to be,” she says.
