Commonwealth Games 2022: Meet the Lawn Bowls team who have assured India their first-ever medal in the sport

The lawn bowls women's four team created history on Monday at the ongoing 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games by assuring India of their first ever medal in the sport.

The Indian team comprising of Lovely Choubey, Nayanmoni Saikia, Pinki and Rupa Rani beat the team from New Zealand 16-13 to book themselves a spot in the final.

Who are these heroic ladies who came out of nowhere to gift a medal for India at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games? Read on to find out:

Lovely Choubey

Hailing from a middleclass family in Jharkhand, Lovely Choubey is a Commonwealth Games veteran. She made her debut in the quadrennial event in 2014 before earning a commendable 5th-placed finish in 2018 at Gold Coast. She first competed in a national event in 2008 and bagged a gold medal in her debut appearance. Currently aged 42, Choubey is employed in Jharkhand police.

She also has to be her name two silver medals in Women's Pairs and Singles from the 10th Asian Lawn Bowls Championships in 2014, a gold in Mixed Pairs from an Asia Pacific tournament in 2013.

Nayanmoni Saikia

Nayanmoni Saikia was born to a family of farmers in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. She started her lawn bowls career in 2008 and is employed by the Assam Forest Department. Nayanmoni shot to fame with twin gold medals in the 2011 National Games in Ranchi. She doubled her national games medal tally in 2015 before also pocketing an Asian Championships gold in 2017 in Delhi.

Pinki

A physical education teacher in a reputed Delhi school, Pinki hails from the national capital. She was introduced to lawn bowls in 2010 as her school created a lawn bowl green as practice venue for the Commonwealth Games that year. Pinki has previously represented India in lawn bowls in the 2014 and 2018 edition of the quadrennial event and also has multiple international medals against her name.

Rupa Rani

Yet another athlete in the women's fours team from Ranchi, Rupa Rani has represented India in every Commonwealth Games since the 2010 edition in Delhi. She finished a commendable 4th in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, missing out on a medal by a whisker before finishing 5th in 2018 at Gold Coast.