AT just 21, Raina Saanvi Kumar has already achieved what no other Fijian woman has done before her.
The Nadi golfer became the first female player from Fiji to earn an official world ranking, a breakthrough that has placed her firmly on the international radar and positioned her as one of the country’s most promising young athletes.
Raina has just returned from a high-performance training camp in New Zealand, where she spent weeks refining her technique and sharpening her competitive mindset.
Her next major step comes in February when she returns to Wellington to compete at the prestigious Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Golf Event an opportunity that could propel her career to even greater heights.
Her journey into the sport began long before the accolades arrived. Golf runs deep in the Kumar household, and Raina’s earliest memories of the sport are tied to family weekends on the course.
Her father played first, introducing the game to Raina and her brother.
Soon after, her mother picked up a club too, turning golf into a shared family passion.
The support at home shaped her early interest and nurtured the discipline she carries today.
“My dad played golf, and he introduced the sport to my brother and I, and eventually my mother joined the sport too, so now my whole family plays,” Kumar said.
Before golf, Raina explored other sports, including swimming and tennis.
But in 2014, at the age of ten, she first picked up a golf club. Two years later, she knew the sport was where her future lay.
Her rise since then has been steady, hard-earned and marked by significant wins at home and abroad.
“I used to swim and then I started playing tennis and then around 2014 I started playing golf and got more serious with the sport around 2016,” she said.
Across Fiji, Raina has stamped her dominance with victories at the 2025 Fiji Open, Fiji Golf Classic, Denarau Open and the Denarau Golf Club Championship. She had earlier lifted titles at the Nadi Open, Ba Open and the Fiji Golf Club Open, making her one of the most successful young female golfers in the country.
Her international journey began early. She represented Fiji at the 2017 Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu as a teenager, returning with a team bronze medal.
She went on to compete at the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa and later secured sixth place at the 2022 Pacific Mini Games in the Northern Mariana Islands.
In 2023, she qualified for the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands, but a cyclone in Fiji disrupted travel plans and her delayed Year 13 external exams unexpectedly clashed with the competition dates.
Her recent world ranking opened another door: an invitation to the 2025 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Academy in Wellington, as well as the 2026 championship event, both significant milestones for a young golfer charting a path toward professional play.
What makes Raina’s achievements even more remarkable is that she balances her sporting commitments with the demands of medical school.
She is a second-year MBBS student at Fiji National University’s College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.
The pressure of combining intense study with high-level training is something she acknowledges openly.
Early mornings, late nights and long days are now part of her routine as she works toward two dreams at once becoming a doctor and reaching the pinnacle of women’s golf.
“It often becomes difficult balancing my studies and golf competitions and training,” she added.
Away from the course and classroom, Raina enjoys swimming, time at the beach and gym workouts, small escapes that help her reset and maintain balance in an otherwise demanding schedule.
With a world ranking under her belt and international competitions ahead, Raina’s ambitions are clear.
She wants to represent Fiji at major global events, win internationally, play professional golf and one day bring home a Pacific Games gold medal.
Above all, she hopes her journey inspires young girls across Fiji to pick up the sport she loves.
For now, Raina continues to train, study and push the boundaries of what is possible for women’s golf in Fiji.
Her story is still unfolding, but one thing is certain, she has already changed the game.
” My goal is to represent Fiji and Win International Events, win a gold medal for Fiji at the Pacific Games, play Professional golf and inspire more young girls to take up golf.”
