Guwahati: The women’s fours lawn bowling team from India created history on Tuesday by taking home the gold at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The team, led by Rupa Rani Tirkey, Lovely Choubey, Pinki, and Nayanmoni Saikia, earned the nation’s first lawn bowls medal, and after defeating the 2018 silver medalists South Africa, they went on to win the championship.
India won the first round with a point after South Africa won the coin toss and set the jack. But South Africa came back in the second, and their captain Johanna Snyman made sure that her team earned two points with the final bowl.
While trailing 3-2 in the fifth end, South Africa appeared to have the advantage in tying the game. With her final bowl, skipper Rupa Rani Tirkey, however, changed the situation, and India eventually took a two-point lead. After a spectacular three-point End 6, that increased to a five-point lead.
But after the seventh end, South Africa began to fight back. South Africa managed to tie the game at 8-8 in the tenth end after India failed to score in three straight ends. In the following round, they were ahead of India 10-8 as this pattern persisted. After that, Tirkey managed to give India a two-point end once more, and after the 12th end, the score remained 10-10. India then gained a 12-point advantage after another two-point end.
Snyman was ultimately successful in moving three Indian bowls closer to the jack in her initial try but was unable to change the formation moving forward, giving India a five-point advantage going into the final end. They maintained composure and scored two more points to win the game 17-10.
The group of Lovely Choubey, Rupa Rani Tirkey, Pinki, and Nayanmoni Saikia, who have backgrounds in the police, education, and administration, now has something to counter the doubters. For their first appearance in the women’s fours final, the team had earlier defeated New Zealand 16–13 in the semifinal.
The Indian team produced a tremendous comeback against the Kiwi team of Selina Goddard (lead), Nicole Toomey (second), Tayle Bruce (third), and Val Smith in their matchup with New Zealand after giving up a 0-5 lead in the second end (skip). After end-9, the score was level at 7-7, but India led after end-10, 10-7. The score between the two teams was 13-12 with New Zealand slightly in front after end-14. Tirkey’s outstanding shot gave India the victory with a 16-13 final score. The Indian men’s duo lost against Northern Ireland 8-26 in the quarterfinal on Sunday, which resulted in their elimination from the competition.