India's Lawn Bowls contingent is making waves at the Commonwealth Games, with the women's pairs team securing a crucial third win while the men's singles player faced a tough challenge.
Key Points
- Indian women's pairs team, Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh, achieved their third consecutive win in Lawn Bowls at the Commonwealth Games.
- The duo defeated Tonga 2-0 in a tie-breaker in their third-round match, staying on course for a semifinal berth.
- Rupa and Pinki will next face their Namibian counterparts in their fourth-round match in Section B.
- Putul Sonowal suffered his first defeat in the men's singles third round, losing to Malaysia's Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple.
- Sonowal, who previously defeated a world champion, remains in second spot in his section and is set to play Malta next.
Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh maintained India's impressive momentum in the Lawn Bowls competition at the Commonwealth Games with a third straight win, while Putul Sonowal tasted his first defeat after back-to-back victories, here on Saturday.
The Indian duo of Rupa and Pinki continued their dominant run, prevailing over Tonga 2-0 in tie-breaker of women's pairs third round match in Section B to stay on course for a berth in the semifinals.
India's Women's Pairs Dominance
Rupa and Pinki won the first set 5-2 against Tonga's Paris Baker and Milika Nathan.
Tonga made the brighter start, taking a 1-0 lead after the opening end. Lead Paris Baker produced an excellent opening spell, leaving India under pressure despite Rupa completing her three bowls.
India responded strongly in the second end through excellent teamwork between lead Rupa and skip Pinki.
Rupa delivered a superb second bowl to help India edge ahead in the second end and level the scores at 1-1, with three ends remaining in the opening set.
India maintained their dominance to claim the first set 5-2.
Tonga, however staged a remarkable comeback to take the second set 6-4 and force a tiebreaker thanks to some fine work by lea Baker and skip Nathan the pair taking a 6-0 lead after three ends.
Rupa Rani and Pinki tried hard to come back but fell short.
In the tie-breaker though, the Indians rose to the challenge with Rupa putting the team ahead and Pinki closing it out.
Rupa and Pinki will face their Namibian counterparts in their fourth round match in Section B on Sunday.
India and England both have three wins in as many games in Section B of the women's pairs sectional play but the latter are ahead on set count.
Sonowal's Men's Singles Challenge
Sonowal made a gritty fight but lost his men's singles third round match to Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple of Malaysia.
Sonowal lost 0-2 (4-8, 8-9) to his Malaysian opponent in the Section D match that lasted around one hour at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) Hall 3.
After losing the first, Sonowal trailed 5-9 in the second but made a remarkable recovery in the 'End 7'. But that was not enough as the Indian lost the second set by a thin margin.
The 43-year-old Assam Police officer grabbed the headlines on Thursday by defeating reigning world champion Ryan Bester of Canada in the opening round, but was pushed to the limit before overcoming Falkland Islands' Cecil Alexander in a tie-break in the second round of Section D.
He is now in the second spot in the Section D standings and faces Shaun James Parnis of Malta on Sunday.
