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Putul Sonowal wins India’s first-ever medal at the World Bowls Champion of Champions
He secured the bronze medal in the men’s singles, improving on his quarter-final finish from the previous edition.
Putul Sonowal wins India's first-ever medal at World Bowls Champion of Champions. (Photo credit: Putul Sonowal/ IG)
Putul Sonowal’s impressive run came to an end in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Bowls Champion of Champions at Club Barham, New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday.
He suffered a straight-sets defeat (5-8, 4-8) to World No. 3 Scottish player Ian McLean and settled for a bronze medal, improving on his quarter-final finish from the previous edition.
This marks India’s first-ever medal at the competition, an annual top-tier event featuring national singles champions from all World Bowls-affiliated nations.
Putul missed out on a Commonwealth Games medal a few months back but had a solid run in this tournament, topping his group with 6/7 wins.
He then confirmed this historic medal in a tightly fought (4-4, 6-5) win against Singapore's Harriman Yuen in the quarterfinals to continue his good form.
He failed to put up a fight against the four-time world medalist Ian in the semi-finals but has already secured the first-ever medal for India.
But this was one step better than his last time's performance, where he had faced a quarterfinal defeat to eventual silver medalist Rajnesh Prasad of Fiji.
In the women's singles, Bangita Hazarika was representing India but was not able to get past her group, finishing fourth with 4 wins out of seven matches.