Entering their names into the history books on Tuesday, members of the Indian lawn bowls team secured India’s first-ever medal at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in the Birmingham edition. After defeating New Zealand in an epic semi-final, Team India squared off against South Africa in the final of the women’s fours event at the 2022 edition of the ongoing Commonwealth Games. The Indian women’s team starring Lovely Choubey (lead), Pinki (second), Nayanmoni Saikia (third) and Rupa Rani Tirkey (skip) thwarted South Africa’s bid for a gold medal in the final.

Lawn bowls is contested in three formats – singles, doubles and fours. In the fours or four-player format, both teams receive eight throws in one ‘end’. Every ‘end’ stands for the completion of one round. In a circular manner, one team has to bowl 18 ends to complete the match. The team that ends up scoring the most number of points after a total of 18 ends is declared the winner of the contest.

Talking about the lawn bowls final of the CWG 2022, South Africa entered the summit clash after remaining unbeaten in the women’s tournament. While India lost its opener to England, the unbeaten Proteas side played a draw against New Zealand at the CWG 2022. India managed to draw an 8-2 lead over South Africa after end 7. Though India remained ahead of the Proteas (8-6) after end 9, South Africa made a stunning comeback by taking the lead over the Asian giants from end 10.