India’s lawn bowls team, Lovely Choubey (lead), Pinki (second), Nayanmoni Saikia (third) and Rupa Rani Tirkey (skip), assured iteself a historic first ever Commonwealth Games medal after defeating New Zealand 16-13 in the semi-final of the women’s fours event in Birmingham on Monday.

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This will be India’s maiden final appearance in the women’s fours format of the competition. The team will face South Africa in the gold medal clash on Tuesday.

Against New Zealand, after conceding a 0-5 lead after the second-end, the Indian team made a strong back against the Kiwi team of Selina Goddard (lead), Nicole Toomey (second), Tayle Bruce (third) and Val Smith (skip).

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After end-9, they were tied 7-7 and after end-10, India took 10-7 lead. But it was a close contest between the two sides, as New Zealand was marginally 13-12 ahead after end-14.

A brilliant shot from Tirkey helped India seal the game with a 16-13 scoreline.

Who is Nayanmoni Saikia? 

The 29-year-old Nayanmoni Saikia is from Golaghat, Assam. She is ranked 14th in women’s triples and fourth in women’s fours. 

Saikia studied in the Golaghat Commerce College and speaks two languages – Hindi and English. She has been coached by Madhukant Pathak. Her Facebook profile shows that Saikia has been married since 2013. 

The Bridge reported that Nayanmoni Saikia ‘was a very dedicated weightlifter earlier until a leg injury ended her career’. 

She switched to Lawn Bowls later. 

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Meanwhile, The Indian men’s pair was knocked out of the competition on Sunday after going down 8-26 to Northern Ireland in the quarter-final.

Indian women hockey team will take on England on Tuesday, in what will be its first real test at the ongoing Commonwealth Games.

The Indians have registered back-to-back victories — 5-0 over Ghana and 3-1 against Wales — in their first two Pool A matches but the Savita Punia-led side was far from convincing in t