CWG 2022: India script history as they secure first-ever medal in Lawn Bowls sport

India scripted history on Monday as they secured the country's first-ever medal in the Lawn Bowls sport.

In the Women's Fours event, Team India comprising Lovely Choubey, Pinki, Nayanmoni Saikia and Rupa Rani Tirkey, produced a stunning show as they defeated World No. 2 New Zealand in the semi-final at the ongoing Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022.

After a slow start that saw India trailing 1-6 against New Zealand at the completion of the 4th end, India made an excellent comeback as they defeated New Zealand 16-13 at the competition of the 15 ends.

On Tuesday (Aug. 2), India will take on South Africa in the gold medal match in Birmingham.

Lawn Bowls is a game involving bowls almost-spherical ball-like objects with flattened sides and a weight bias and jacks (a smaller ball, this time spherical in shape), in which the former are rolled (bowled) towards the latter on the bowling green, according to Rules of Sport.

The objective of the game is easy: to roll your bowls to as close proximity to the jack as possible, and to make sure that one or more of your bowls are closer to the jack than any of those of your opponent.

A point is awarded to the player or team whose bowl is closest to the jack at the end of an end (or round). If a player or team has more than one bowl closer to the jack than their opponents, they will score the corresponding number of points after the end of the stipulated number of ends - 15 in CWG 2022.

Earlier on Sunday, India's Lawn Men's Pair team of Dinesh Kumar and Sunil Bahadur qualified for the quarters of their event following a victory over England in their Section C game. The victory also saw India finish in second place in the Section C table with three wins and a loss.

After a loss to Malaysia in the first game, India went on to win against the Falkland Islands, Cook Islands, and England, who were the table toppers with three victories and a loss.

Meanwhile, India's Lawn Bowls singles player, Tania Choudhary, finally broke her losing streak by defeating Shauna O'Neill of Northern Ireland by 21-12 after 19 ends. However, she failed to qualify for the knockout round as she had lost three straight games, against Dee Hoggan (Scotland), Arthur Almond (Falkland Islands), and Laura Daniels (Wales) previously.

CWG 2022 started in Birmingham on July 28 and will go on till Aug. 8. So far, India have secured six medals: 3 Gold, 2 Silver, and a Bronze. The medals have come in weightlifting, including Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu winning Gold in the Women's 49Kg category.