India on Tuesday won a historic gold medal in lawn bowls at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. India defeated South Africa 17-10 in the women's fours lawn bowls final. The victory has given India its fourth gold medal of the campaign, and the first-ever in the sport. India had raced to a big lead in the final, before South Africa made a strong comeback to take a 10-8 lead. While it seemed at one point that the gold was slipping away, the Indian quartet -- Lovely Choubey, Rupa Rani Tirkey, Nayan Moni Saikia and Pinki -- held their nerves to win India's first gold medal in the sport.
Here's all you need to know about the Indian team that won lawn bowls gold medal
Lovely Choubey: She was born in Ranchi, Jharkhand, in a middle-class family. Her father retired from Coal India and mother is a housewife. She completed her high school from Jharkhand Board of Education. She is currently employed at the Department of Police, State Government of Jharkhand. She participated in her first lawn bowl nationals in 2008 and clinched a gold medal.
Rupa Rani Tirkey: Rupa was born in Ranchi, Jharkhand. She completed her school education from St. Aan's Girls High School. She pursued graduation from Gossner College and currently is employed as District Sports Officer in the Department of Sports, State Government of Jharkhand since 2020.
Nayan Moni Saikia: Nayanmoni was born in Golaghat, Assam, in a middle-class family. His father is a farmer and mother is a housewife. She has been passionate about sports since her childhood. She began her career in sports through weightlifting in 2008. But due to a leg injury her performance kept deteriorating. Later she chose to play lawn bowls as this sport was the game without injuries. With time, lawn bowls became her passion and she became the key player of the national team.
Pinki: She was born in Delhi in a middle-class family. She completed schooling from Salwan Girls Public School, New Delhi and did her graduation from Kamala Nehru College. She also pursued a sports degree from Delhi University and sports diploma from SAI Patiala. She is currently working in Delhi Public school RK PURAM as a physical education teacher is the place where she was introduced to the sport of Lawn Bowls as Delhi Public school had made a lawn bowl green as a practice venue for the Commonwealth Games 2010. She participated in the first lawn bowl nationals in 2007. And since then, it's a never-ending process as a sport has grown up on her a lot.