CWG 2026: Putul Sonowal Stuns World Champion Ryan Bester In Glasgow Opener

Last Updated:July 23, 2026, 20:46 IST

Putul Sonowal stuns world champion Ryan Bester in Bowls at Glasgow Commonwealth Games. India starts strong with Women's Pairs win.

Putul Sonowal pulled off a brilliant tie-break win against 2023 world champion Ryan Bester of Canada in the Bowls men’s singles, giving India a strong start to their Glasgow Commonwealth Games campaign on Thursday.

Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh also won their Women’s Pairs opening match against Malta in a tie-break as Lawn Bowls competition kicked off the Games.

Making his CWG debut, Sonowal claimed the opening set 5-4 before Bester, a multiple CWG medallist, responded with a commanding 7-3 victory in the second set to force a tie-break.

The reigning Asian champion from Assam held his nerve in the tie-break to bag a memorable win in his opening Section D match. Sonowal will next face Cecil Alexander of the Falkland Islands in his second match on Friday.

Bester claimed a bronze medal in the men’s singles at the 2006 CWG before adding silver medals in the 2014 and 2018 editions. He has won seven medals at the World Outdoor Championships in singles and pairs as well, including a gold and a bronze across the two events in the 2023 edition.

He was inducted into the inaugural World Bowls Hall of Fame class in 2025.

In the Women’s Pairs, India defeated Malta in a tense tie-break.

The Indian duo of Rupa Rani Tirkey (lead) and Pinki Singh (skip) produced a dominant display in the opening set, bagging a 7-1 win to take a 1-0 lead in their first-round Section B match at Hall 3 of the Scottish Event Campus (SEC).

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 and won the match.

In Bowls, the ‘Skip’ serves as the team captain and the most experienced player. They decide the strategy and deliver the final two bowls of each ‘end’. A set consists of five ends.

‘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.

The Indian Women’s Pairs team faces South Africa in their second match of Section B on Friday.

Both Tirkey and Pinki were members of India’s gold medal-winning women’s fours team at the 2022 Birmingham CWG. But the men’s and women’s fours events haven’t been included in the Bowls programme for the Glasgow CWG.

Only the Men’s and Women’s singles, and the Men’s and Women’s Pairs events have been included.

India had also won a silver in the Men’s Fours event in the 2022 Birmingham Games.

(With PTI Inputs)

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