India won a historic gold medal in the women's fours lawn bowls event after the Indian team comprising Lovely Choubey, Rupa Rani Tirkey, Pinki and Nayanmoni Saikia defeated South Africa 17-10 in the final on Tuesday. This is India's first-ever medal in the sport and the team showed great composure and held their nerves under pressure to seal the gold medal. This victory helped India achieve its fourth gold at the ongoing event.
As South Africa went to take its last attempt, India had already sealed the gold medal. As soon as the win was completed, the entire Indian contingent hugged in the middle and there was sheer happiness on their faces.
In the match, India were under pressure at one stage, but they managed to hold their own. India were leading at 8-2 at one stage, but South Africa staged a comeback to take a 10-8 lead. But the Indian team once again showed great skill to seal the contest. In the last round, India had taken two points to take home the advantage.
Earlier, in the semi-final against New Zealand, after conceding a 0-5 lead after the second end, the Indian team made a strong back against the Kiwi team of Selina Goddard (lead), Nicole Toomey (second), Tayle Bruce (third) and Val Smith (skip).
After end-9, they were tied 7-7 but after end-10, India had taken a 10-7 lead. It was a close contest between the two sides, as New Zealand was marginally 13-12 ahead after end-14. A brilliant shot from Tirkey helped India seal the game with a 16-13 scoreline.
With PTI inputs