 "Commonwealth Games: Amazing ‘Men’s Fours’ add silver to women's gold in Lawn Bowls")
Leamington Spa: The Indian men’s quartet comprising Navneet Singh, a qualified pilot on the threshold of a job; a Physical education teacher, Chandan Kumar Singh and two Jharkhand policemen Dinesh Kumar and Sunil Bahadur, brought India their second Lawn Bowls medal of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
They had reached the Men’s Fours final with a stunning upset over England late on Friday but lost the final to Northern Ireland 5-18.
Commonwealth Games: India schedule , Results , Medals tally
The story of the men’s team is as fascinating as that of the women. Debutant Navneet, skipped up a job interview for a pilot with Air India to come for the Games. Sunil Bahadur now a Sub-Inspector in Police in Jharkhand, said it was because of the sport that he has got promotions, and Dinesh, also from Ranchi, is also looking forward to the same.
Chandan was almost emotional as he said, “I dedicate this medal to my grandfather who was a freedom fighter and he fought the British. For me to come here and beat England in England and win a medal makes me so happy.”
Indian men beat Fiji 14-11, beat Cook Islands 20-10 but lost to England 11-20 in their last league match. Finishing second in their pool India qualified for the quarterfinals where they beat Canada 14-10 in a close battle.
Then came the semi-finals, which was once against England but this time around the Indians edge out the hosts 13-12. Chandan produced a ‘miracle shot’ as India trailing 10-12 after 14 ends (rounds) stunned England 13-12 with three points in the last ‘end’. That final ‘end’ saw Chandan’s amazing shot ensure India had three Bowls closest to the jack (the yellow) for the three India needed to score an improbable win.
As Lawn Bowl explained, “It is akin to a six of the last ball in cricket with six runs needed to win.”
In the final, India could not produce that same magic but the entry into the final assured them a silver. “Our game was off today,” said Navneet, who will resume looking for a job or maybe request for a new date for his interview with Air India.
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More ShortsHe said, “My interview was scheduled for Aug 7 but I skipped it because I was coming to CWG and now I am thrilled to have a medal for having sacrificed that.”
Earlier in the week, the women’s Fours team won a sensational gold ahead of some of the top nations in Lawn Bowls. The team was Lovely Choubey, Rupa Rani Tirkey, Pinki, and Nayanmoni Saikia.
Very interestingly, Pinki, who is a Physical Education teacher at the Delhi Public School, where Navneet Singh was a student. Navneet, elated at his medal, said, “I used to play cricket and other sports, and then Pinki Ma’am who was the teacher in our school, DPS, suggested Lawn Bowls to me. I tried it and like it. It was great as people from the age of 9 to 90 can play it. Slowly I was into the sport and played my first Nationals in 2011.”
Pinki, who was at the venue with the men’s team, said, “It is great that both of us – Navneet and her – are from the same school and could win a medal each.”
Navneet added, “For us, the federation is like a family. Everyone supports everyone. We were so happy when the women’s team won and now they are happy for us.”
While Navneet was making his debut at the CWG, Sunil Bahadur, Chandan Kumar and Dinesh Kumar were representing India in their fourth CWG.
Dinesh said, “Over the last four games, we have come very close to the medals missing out by one or two points in crucial games. This time we managed to overcome that and get a medal. The win against England in the semi-final was very crucial and it was thrilling. We are all so happy that we were able to get a medal after so many attempts.”
Anju Luthra, the manager of the squad, whom the men’s team also jokingly referred to as the ‘Mom’ of the whole team, summed up saying, “These two medals were much needed. We have very Bowling Greens. Now we will hopefully get more support and facilities.”
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