Commonwealth Games: Sonowal, women’s pair give India winning start in Bowls
The Indian pair of Rupa Rani Tirkey (lead) and Pinki (skip) won the first set 7-1 but lost the second 3-4 as the section B round one match went to the tie-break.
India made a winning start to their Commonwealth Games 2026 when they beat Malta in a tense tie-break in Bowls Women’s Pairs event on Thursday. The Indian pair of Rupa Rani Tirkey (lead) and Pinki (skip) won the first set 7-1 but lost the second 3-4 as the section B round one match went to the tie-break. The Indians held their nerve to win the tie-break with Pinki settling the issue in her final bowl.
The Indian Women’s Pairs team faces South Africa in their second match of Section B on Friday. Both Tirkey and Pinki were part of the Women’s Fours team that won gold in the 2022 Birmingham CWG. But the Men’s and Women’s Fours events have been excluded in the Glasgow CWG from the Bowls competition features. Only the Men’s and Women’s singles, and the Men’s and Women’s Pairs events have been included. India had also won a silver in the Men’s Fours event in the 2022 Birmingham Games.
Meanwhile, debutant Putul Sonowal stunned 2023 world champion Ryan Bester of Canada in tie-break in Lawn Bowls Men’s Singles. Sonowal, who was making his Commonwealth Games debut, clinched the first set 5-4 before Bester, also a multiple Commonwealth Games medallist, came back with a dominating 7-3 win to take the contest to the tie-break.
The Assam player, the reigning Asian champion, kept his cool to clinch the tie-break for a remarkable win in his opening match in Section D. He faces Cecil Alexander of Falkland Islands in his second match on Friday.
In the 2022 games, the India’s women’s fours team of Lovely Choubey, Pinki, Nayanmoni Saikia, and Tirkey had clinched a historic gold medal at Birmingham 2022, they transformed Lawn Bowls from an unfamiliar Commonwealth niche into an overnight sensation across the country. It was also India’s maiden final appearance in the women’s fours format of the competition.
Rupa, played kabaddi when young, and similarly drifted towards Lawn Bowls. Her father worked in a post office, and after him, later her mother took over the same job. Her sister Reema Rani Tirkey plays cricket. For the Asian runners up (after Malaysia), all those international medals merely funded the next big tour – for which athletes were expected to partly fund their travel.
Pinki began lawn bowling because of a stroke of luck. Her school was home to one of only two lawn bowling greens and training facilities in Delhi. She took it up recreationally in 2007.
Pinki and Co had proven to be too much for the South African contingent, trumping them 17-10. India started on the front foot and sailed into a huge lead, 7-2 ahead by the end of the fifth end.
However, a resurgence was to come from South Africa, a powerhouse in CWG Lawn Bowls, who dug deep to draw level at 8-8 by the conclusion of the 10th end, and even took a 10-8 lead in the 11th end, before the Indians scripted their comeback.
In the next four ends, both Saikia and Tirkey put in stellar performances to turn it around and take gold. The duo, well supported by Pinki and Choudhary, led the team to win 9 points in a row, between the 12th and 15th ends to make history for India.
India made a winning start to their Commonwealth Games 2026 when they beat Malta in a tense tie-break in Bowls Women’s Pairs event on Thursday. The Indian pair of Rupa Rani Tirkey (lead) and Pinki (skip) won the first set 7-1 but lost the second 3-4 as the section B round one match went to the tie-break. The Indians held their nerve to win the tie-break with Pinki settling the issue in her final bowl.
The Indian Women’s Pairs team faces South Africa in their second match of Section B on Friday. Both Tirkey and Pinki were part of the Women’s Fours team that won gold in the 2022 Birmingham CWG. But the Men’s and Women’s Fours events have been excluded in the Glasgow CWG from the Bowls competition features. Only the Men’s and Women’s singles, and the Men’s and Women’s Pairs events have been included. India had also won a silver in the Men’s Fours event in the 2022 Birmingham Games.
Meanwhile, debutant Putul Sonowal stunned 2023 world champion Ryan Bester of Canada in tie-break in Lawn Bowls Men’s Singles. Sonowal, who was making his Commonwealth Games debut, clinched the first set 5-4 before Bester, also a multiple Commonwealth Games medallist, came back with a dominating 7-3 win to take the contest to the tie-break.
The Assam player, the reigning Asian champion, kept his cool to clinch the tie-break for a remarkable win in his opening match in Section D. He faces Cecil Alexander of Falkland Islands in his second match on Friday.
In the 2022 games, the India’s women’s fours team of Lovely Choubey, Pinki, Nayanmoni Saikia, and Tirkey had clinched a historic gold medal at Birmingham 2022, they transformed Lawn Bowls from an unfamiliar Commonwealth niche into an overnight sensation across the country. It was also India’s maiden final appearance in the women’s fours format of the competition.
Rupa, played kabaddi when young, and similarly drifted towards Lawn Bowls. Her father worked in a post office, and after him, later her mother took over the same job. Her sister Reema Rani Tirkey plays cricket. For the Asian runners up (after Malaysia), all those international medals merely funded the next big tour – for which athletes were expected to partly fund their travel.
Pinki began lawn bowling because of a stroke of luck. Her school was home to one of only two lawn bowling greens and training facilities in Delhi. She took it up recreationally in 2007.
Pinki and Co had proven to be too much for the South African contingent, trumping them 17-10. India started on the front foot and sailed into a huge lead, 7-2 ahead by the end of the fifth end.
However, a resurgence was to come from South Africa, a powerhouse in CWG Lawn Bowls, who dug deep to draw level at 8-8 by the conclusion of the 10th end, and even took a 10-8 lead in the 11th end, before the Indians scripted their comeback.
In the next four ends, both Saikia and Tirkey put in stellar performances to turn it around and take gold. The duo, well supported by Pinki and Choudhary, led the team to win 9 points in a row, between the 12th and 15th ends to make history for India.
