CWG 2022: Meet the ladies who won India’s historic lawn bowls gold | Commonwealth Games 2022 News – Times of India

A physical education teacher, a forest officer, a police woman and a district sports officer scripted history for India in a sport that never made news as such in the country before August 2, 2022 — lawn bowls. Four women from the country, coming from diverse backgrounds from different parts of India went on to win a historic gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and became the toast of the nation.
Pinki, Nayanmoni Saikia, Lovely Choubey and Rupa Rani Tirkey formed the quartet of India’s Women’s Fours team that defeated South Africa 17-10 in the final amid historic scenes at the bowling greens of Victoria Park.
Here’s a brief profile of the four athletes who have become the story of the Birmingham Games for India:
Name: Pinki
Age: 42 Years
Event: Triples, Fours
Hometown: Delhi
Working as a physical education teacher currently at the Delhi Public School, RK Puram, in the national capital, Pinki has been playing the sport since 2007 and this was her fourth appearance at the Commonwealth Games, with her best showing before Sunday being a fourth-place finish in 2010. A diploma holder from Sports Authority of India, Patiala, Pinki is also a multiple-times Asian Championship gold medallist .

AP Photo
Name: Nayanmoni Saikia
Age: 33 Years
Hometown: Golaghat, Assam
Event: Pairs and Fours
Daughter of a farmer, Nayanmoni began her sports career as a weightlifter in 2008, but her stint with the sport was cut short because of a leg injury, which affected her performance. Working for the Assam Forest Department since 2011, she has two gold medals to her name in lawn bowls from the Asian Championships.
Name: Lovely Choubey
Event: Pairs and Fours
Age: 42
Hometown: Ranchi, Jharkhand
A cop from Jharkhand police department. Lovely is participating in her third Commonwealth Games since she stepped on the field at the RK Anand Bowling Green in Ranchi. Coached by Madhukant Pathak, she is an Asian Championships silver medallist in the sport.

PTI Photo
Name: Rupa Rani Tirkey
Event: Triples, Fours
Age: 34
Hometown: Ranchi, Jharkhand
Undoubtedly the most influential among the Women’s Fours team, Rupa has been the guiding force behind the team’s performance as was on show during the event in Birmingham. As a Skip, she was the last to bowl and is pretty vocal about shooting instructions at her teammates from a distance before her turn. Since 2020, she has been working for the Jharkhand Department of Sports as the District Sports Officer. In 2020 she was selected for the World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Australia. Birmingham was her fourth appearance at the Commonwealth Games.