India opened their Commonwealth Games 2026 campaign with a victory after defeating Malta in a tie-break in the women's pairs lawn bowls competition in Glasgow on Thursday. The experienced duo of Rupa Rani Tirkey (lead) and Pinki (skip) overcame a spirited challenge from Malta to win their opening Section B match.
India dominated the opening set, winning it 7-1, but Malta responded strongly by taking the second set 4-3 to force a tie-break. With the contest hanging in the balance, the Indian pair held their nerve, with Pinki delivering the decisive final bowl to clinch the match and secure India's first win of the Games.
The victory marks another significant chapter for Indian lawn bowls, a sport that captured the nation's imagination during the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Tirkey and Pinki were members of the historic women's fours team, alongside Lovely Choubey and Nayanmoni Saikia, that won India's maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal in the sport.
It was also India's first appearance in the women's fours final, and the triumph transformed lawn bowls into one of the standout stories of the Birmingham Games.
That memorable gold medal came after a dramatic final against South Africa. India built an early 7-2 advantage after five ends before South Africa, one of the sport's traditional powerhouses, fought back to level the scores at 8-8 after the 10th end and then moved ahead 10-8 in the 11th.
India responded brilliantly under pressure. Tirkey and Saikia produced several crucial bowls, while Pinki and Choubey also made valuable contributions as the team scored nine unanswered points across the final four ends, from the 12th to the 15th, to complete a remarkable comeback and script history.
Tirkey's rise in the sport has been built on perseverance. She initially played kabaddi before switching to lawn bowls. Both her father and later her mother worked in the postal department. Like many Indian lawn bowlers, she often relied on prize money earned from international competitions to fund future overseas tours, as players frequently had to bear part of their travel expenses. Her sister, Reema Rani Tirkey, is a cricketer.
Pinki's introduction to lawn bowls came by chance. She attended a school in Delhi that housed one of only two lawn bowls greens and training centres in the city. What began as a hobby in 2007 gradually developed into an international career, culminating in the historic Commonwealth Games gold medal in Birmingham.
