Commonwealth Games: India beat Malta in tie-break in Bowls women’s pairs event

57 minutes ago 7

2 min readJul 23, 2026 06:32 PM IST

India’s Rupa Rani Tirkey during the Women's Pairs Sectional Play at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026, at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (PTI)

India made a winning start to their Commonwealth Games 2026 when they beat Malta in a tense tie-break in Bowls Women’s Pairs event on Thursday. The Indian pair of Rupa Rani Tirkey (lead) and Pinki (skip) won the first set 7-1 but lost the second 3-4 as the section B round one match went to the tie-break.
The Indians held their nerve to win the tie-break with Pinki settling the issue in her final bowl.

In the 2022 games, the India’s women’s fours team of Lovely Choubey, Pinki, Nayanmoni Saikia, and Tirkey had clinched a historic gold medal at Birmingham 2022, they transformed Lawn Bowls from an unfamiliar Commonwealth niche into an overnight sensation across the country. It was also India’s maiden final appearance in the women’s fours format of the competition.

Rupa, played kabaddi when young, and similarly drifted towards Lawn Bowls. Her father worked in a post office, and after him, later her mother took over the same job. Her sister Reema Rani Tirkey plays cricket. For the Asian runners up (after Malaysia), all those international medals merely funded the next big tour – for which athletes were expected to partly fund their travel.

Pinki began lawn bowling because of a stroke of luck. Her school was home to one of only two lawn bowling greens and training facilities in Delhi. She took it up recreationally in 2007.

Pinki and Co had proven to be too much for the South African contingent, trumping them 17-10. India started on the front foot and sailed into a huge lead, 7-2 ahead by the end of the fifth end.

Read Entire Article