Commonwealth Games gold medalist Nayanmoni Saikia of Assam stole the show on the first day of the Lawn Bowls category in the National Games on Wednesday, easily winning two singles matches and one team game.
Saikia began the day with a 23-0 win over Gujarat’s Vaishali Makvana in Group A and ended it with a 21-10 win over West Bengal’s Beena Shah.
She also assisted Assam defeat Manipur in the Fours match at the Kensville Golf and Country Club near here, winning 33-3.
Saikia, a part of the Indian Fours team that made history at the CWG in Birmingham last month, is overjoyed that her sport is gaining popularity.
“The gold medal provided the impetus for Lawn Bowls. But we have to make sure that our win wasn’t a fluke. We have to keep performing to sustain its popularity,” remarked Nayanmoni, an Assam Deputy Superintendent of Police, after a particularly successful day.
“The National Games are getting bigger and better. Naturally, there will be pressure on every athlete. But it is up to the senior players to leave a mark and show the way,” stated the 34-year-old from Golaghat.
Meanwhile, in Bhavnagar, the Gujarat men’s netball team advanced to the semifinals after defeating Punjab 57-33 in their final group A match. Gujarat adhered to their mission and maintained a commanding lead in the match, avoiding a three-way tie with Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.
Gujarat will confront the Group B champions, while Haryana will face the other semifinalist. In the last four stages, Telangana and Delhi took the two Group B spots. Telangana and Delhi both ended their three matches with two victories and a draw.
At the EKA TransStadia Stadium in Ahmedabad, Delhi and West Bengal became the first men’s teams to reach the Rugby 7s semi finals after defeating Punjab and Odisha in their respective group B matches.
Delhi won 26-0 over Punjab and 14-10 against Odisha, while Bengal won 24-7 against Odisha and 22-12 against Punjab.
In other men’s Group A matches, Haryana defeated Gujarat 28-0 and Services defeated Maharashtra 14-14. Bihar trounced the hosts 44-0, while Maharashtra upset Delhi 19-10 in a hard-fought fight in women’s Group A.
West Bengal and Odisha began Group B with wins over Chandigarh 29-5 and Kerala 64-0, respectively.
The 25m rapid fire pistol stage 1 event will kick off the shooting competition at the Rifle Club on Thursday. Anish Bhanwala (Haryana), Vijayveer Sidhu (Punjab), 2012 Olympic Games silver medallist Vijay Kumar (Himachal Pradesh), and Gurpreet Singh (Services) are among the shooters who will compete.
