Birmingham: The Indian lawn bowls team bagged a historic gold medal, a day after getting the country hooked to the rarely-followed game with their inspiring show, at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday. Lovely Choubey, Rupa Rani Tirkey, Pinki and Nayanmoni Saikia bagged gold for India, the country’s first medal in the discipline, by beating South Africa 17-10 in the finals of Lawn Bowls.
South African team comprising Thabelo Muvhango (lead), Bridget Calitz (second), Esme Kruger (third) and Johanna Snyman (skip), cut India’s early lead from 8-2 to 8-8 at the end of End 9. Following this, South Africa showed their experience in the event by upping the lead to 10-8 after 11 ends of throws. However, India managed to grab the much-needed lead of 12-10 after end 13. South Africa’s brief lead in the end 12 came to an end abruptly after India finished the game 17-10 after 14 ends of throws.
Earlier, India started the final in high spirits after taking 1-0 after End 1. However, South Africa came back strong after End 2 with a 2-1 lead. But India improved to 3-2 after four ends. India continued the momentum and improved from their early sloppy throws to increase the lead to 4-2 after five ends. After End 6, India’s lead reached 8-2, a solid performance from the Indian team in CWG 2022. SA came back strong and went level with India at 8-8 after End 9.
Earlier, the Indian team defeated New Zealand 16-13 in the semi-final to earn a maiden final appearance in the women’s fours format of the competition. Against New Zealand, after conceding a 0-5 lead after the second end, the Indian team came back strongly. After end-14, New Zealand was marginally 13-12 ahead. However, a brilliant shot from Tirkey helped India seal the game with a 16-13 scoreline.
Meantime, India lost to New Zealand in the Lawn Bowls men’s singles round 1 match. Mridul Borgohain of India lost to Shannon Mcllroy of New Zealand for a score of 8-21.
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