Glasgow, Jul 24 (PTI) India produced a dominant display to register their second successive victory in the lawn bowls women’s pairs event, while Putul Sonowal dug deep to edge past Falkland Islands’ Cecil Alexander in a tense tie-break during the second round of the Commonwealth Games here on Friday.
The Indian pair of Rupa Rani Tirkey (lead) and Pinki Singh (skip) beat the South Africans 2-0 (6-4, 7-5) in their second match in Section B at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) Hall 3.
The South Africans Thabelo Muvhango (lead) and Jacqui Janse van Rensburg (skip) put up a gritty fight but found the Indians too good on the day. The Indian pair currently tops section B standings.
On Thursday, the Indians had beaten Malta in a tense tie-break in their opening match. They won the first set 7-1 but the Maltese duo of Rebecca Louise Rixon (lead) and Connie-Leigh Rixon (skip) fought back to take the second set 3-4.
In the nervy tie-break, the Indians were lagging behind their opponents before Pinky sent down a fine effort in the last bowl to win the match.
In Bowls, ‘Skip’ is the team captain, and usually the most experienced player. He or she determines the game plan, and also plays the final two bowls of one ‘end’. There are five ends in a set.
‘Lead’ is the first player to bowl, responsible for placing the mat. He or she sends the bowls as close to the target as possible, before the ‘Skip’ comes in.
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.
The Men’s and Women’s Singles and Pairs events have been included in Glasgow.
India had also won a silver in the Men’s Fours event in the 2022 Birmingham Games.
Sonowal made to work hard for win ======================= Assam Police officer Putul Sonowal, who grabbed the headlines on Thursday by defeating reigning world champion Ryan Bester of Canada in the opening round, was pushed to the limit before overcoming Falkland Islands’ Cecil Alexander in a tie-break in the second round of Section D.
The 43-year-old Indian won a hard-fought opening set 7-5 after recovering from a 3-4 deficit midway through the contest. He levelled the scores at 4-4, seized the momentum and closed out the set 7-5.
However, the second set was a different story as Alexander stayed in control throughout, handing Sonowal an 8-6 defeat to level the match at 1-1.
With the contest going into the tie-break, Sonowal held his nerve and claimed the decisive point to seal a hard-fought victory. PTI PDS PM AM AM AH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.