The Indian lawn bowl contingent in the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham created history as they confirmed the first-ever CWG medal for the country in the sport. They defeated New Zealand in a come-from-behind win leaving the quartet of Lovely Choubey, Rupa Rani Tirkey, Pinki, and Nayanmoni Saikia in ecstasy.
The 38-year-old member of the team Lovely Choubey hails from Ranchi and revealed the influence former India captain MS Dhoni has had on her and her family. Lovely is a constable in Ranchi police.
"This is as big as the Olympics for us since lawn bowls are not part of the Summer Games. We lost the medal by one point four years ago but this time we have made up for that by making history. I hope this effort gives us some recognition," Lovely, who is featuring in her third CWG, told PTI.
Among the few visitors, they get while they are training in Ranchi include cricketing great Dhoni, who as per Lovely "knows a lot about her sport."
"Dhoni sir knows our coach in Ranchi and has come to see us at the greens twice over the years. We have a Dewri Mata temple close by, when he goes there he comes to see us as well. We had a chat about the sport as well. He said whenever he is in Australia he goes to play Lawn Bowls," said Lovely.
Having featured in every Games since 1930, lawn bowls are an integral part of the multi-sporting event. Australia and England are the most dominant teams in the game.
(PTI inputs)
