All you need to know about Lawn Bowls where four Indian women registered a historic Gold medal at CWG 2022
India created history at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, when the Women’s Four Lawn Bowl team of Pinki, Lovely Choubey, Nayanmoni Saikia and Rupa Rani Tirkey won the competition by defeating South Africa 17-10. They thus ensured themselves of a historic medal in the sport at Birmingham, becoming the first ever Indians to win a medal at the event in the sport.
Earlier, in the semi-final, they defeated the mighty New Zealand team by a margin of 16-13. However, on August 2, the Indian team made history by becoming the first team to win a gold medal in the sport and that too against the powerhouse team of South Africa.
Amidst this historic feat, a lot of people now want to follow the sport and hence, we at Pari Match News explain the niche sport of lawn bowl –
Equipment
Lawn bowls is played with bowls, as the name implies. In contrast to the ball used in indoor bowling, the bowls used in lawn bowls are heavier and more rounded on one side. This allows the bowl to curve without requiring the bowler to spin it as in indoor bowling.
The bowl is usually made of wood, rubber, or plastic resin, and it has indentations to help players grip it. Bowls typically have a diameter of 112mm to 134mm and a weight of up to 1.59kg, depending on the material used.
The jack is smaller and lighter than the bowl, and it can be white or yellow. Players must bowl while standing on a 600mm x 360mm mat.
Rules
The Jack surrounded by lawn bowls
Competitors take turns rowling the bowl on a grass surface to get as close to another bowl that is kept at a set distance as possible. The target bowl is known as the jack.
The distance between the starting line and the jack is determined at the start of the game when one team rolls the jack to the opposite end. The team that rolls the jack is decided by a coin toss prior to the match. The toss determines which team rolls the bowl first. To determine the distance, the toss-losing team rolls the jack.
The match is then played between two competitors and is divided into rounds known as ends. Lawn bowls is divided into four categories: singles, pairs, triples, and fours. The number of bowls that each competitor must roll varies between individual and team categories. Singles competitors receive four bowls per end, while team members receive two bowls per end.
To be considered in play, the jack must travel at least 23m. The jack is moved to the centre of the rink after it has come to rest, and the teams begin their series of bowls.
When bowling, the bowler must have at least a portion of one foot on the mat. The goal of the game is to get your bowls as close to the jack as possible. Standing on the mat, the bowler rolls their bowl towards the jack at the other end.
In a fours’ event, the bowler who bowls first is called the lead and is followed by the second and the third with the last bowler called Skip, the leader so to speak. For the Indian women’s fours team, that is Rupa Rani Tirkey, who can be seen calling for her teammates before going across to complete the last two bowls.
Scoring
India secured its first-ever CWG medal in the sport by defeating South Africa 17-10
At the end of each end, points are awarded to the team or bowlers whose bowls are closest to the jack. For example, if team A has three bowls closer to the jack than team B after an end, team A will receive three points. If only one is closer, one point.
If the distance between the jack and the bowls is not visible, umpires use a box measure, which uses string to measure it.
The total score is calculated at the end of the match, and whoever has the most points wins. The first player to reach 21 points wins the match in singles, while the team with the higher score at the end of 18 ends wins the match in team events. However, the number of ends across events can vary just like in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games wherein the four games were of 15 ends.
History of Lawn Bowls at Commonwealth Games
‘Lawn Bowls’ has been included in the Commonwealth Games since its inception in 1930. England has the most medals in the sport (51) followed by Australia (50) and South Africa (50). (45). Scotland and England have the most Commonwealth Games Lawn Bowls gold medals (20 each).
How has India fared in the sport at the Games?
India has been one of Asia’s most consistent Lawn Bowls performers, consistently finishing on the podium in Asian and Asia-Pacific championships. However, until these games, they have not been able to deliver their best at the Commonwealth Games.
Before the 2022 edition, India competed in 2010, 2014, and 2018 editions. Only twice had the country reached the semi-finals, finishing fourth on both occasions. They did so in the women’s triple event in Delhi in 2010 and the men’s fours event in Glasgow in 2014.
They have, however, broken the curse and are expected to win more medals in the sport in the coming games after their victory on Tuesday in the Women’s Fours event.