Commonwealth Games gold medallist Nayanmoni Saikia (Assam) was a picture of confidence on the opening day of the high-profile Lawn Bowls competition in the 36th National Games, comfortably winning two singles matches and one team game at the Kensville Golf and Country Club near here on Wednesday.
Nayanmoni Saikia started the day with an emphatic 23-0 victory over Gujarat’s Vaishali Makvana in a Group A contest and ended it with a 21-10 win over Beena Shah of West Bengal. In between, she joined her Assam teammates to post a 33-3 verdict against Manipur in the Fours competition.
A member of the Indian Fours team which made history in Birmingham last month, Nayanmoni Saikia is delighted that her sport is drawing a lot of attention. “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,” said Nayanmoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Assam, after a highly successful day.
“The National Games is 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,” said the 34-year-old from Golaghat, still getting to terms with the adulation and attention after the Indian team’s feat in Birmingham.
Meanwhile, in Bhavnagar, the Gujarat men’s Netball team warmed the fans’ hearts by making it to the semifinals with a splendid 57-33 victory over Punjab in their last group A contest. Needing a win to avoid a triple tie with Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat stuck to their task and kept themselves well ahead in the match.
Gujarat will meet the winners of Group B while Group A toppers Haryana will play the other semifinal. Telangana and Delhi took the two Group B places in the last four stages. Telangana and Delhi both finished with two wins and a draw from their three matches each.
Back in the EKA TransStadia Football Stadium in Ahmedabad, Delhi and West Bengal became the first men’s teams to claim Rugby 7s semifinal berths, both beating Punjab and Odisha in their group B matches. Delhi recorded a 26-0 win against Punjab and beat Odisha 14-10 while Bengal posted a 24-7 victory over Odisha and backed it up with a 22-12 win over Punjab.
In other matches, Haryana beat Gujarat 28-0 and Services held Maharashtra 14-14 in men’s Group A. Bihar had it easy against the hosts 44-0 while Maharashtra defeated Delhi 19-10 in a tough battle in women’s Group A. West Bengal and Odisha started Group B with victories over Chandigarh 29-5 and Kerala 64-0 in women’s Group B.
The first of the shooting matches get underway on Thursday at the Rifle Club with the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Stage 1. That is expected to offer a riveting contest among the athletes, especially with Anish Bhanwala (Haryana), Vijayveer Sidhu (Punjab), 2012 Olympic Games silver medalist Vijay Kumar (Himachal Pradesh), and Gurpreet Singh (Services) in the fray.
Some Important results
Lawn Bowls:
Women’s Singles:
Group A: Nayanmoni Saika (Assam) beat Vaishali Makvana (Gujarat) 23-0; Beena Shah (West Bengal) beat Ch. Surbala Devi (Manipur) 21-9; Nayanmoni Saikia beat Beena Shah 21-10; Surbala Devi beat Vaishali Makvana 21-6.
Group B: Sarita Tirkey (Jharkhand) beat Anamika Kumari (Bihar) 21-10; Shaista Sharma (Delhi) beat Saina Naik (Odisha). 17-14; Sarita Tirkey beat Saina Naik 21-3; Shaista Sharma beat Anamika Kumari 21-8.
Rugby
Men
Group A: Haryana beat Gujarat 28-0; Maharashtra drew with Services 14-14; Haryana beat Services 15-0; Maharashtra beat Gujarat 73-0.
Group B: Delhi beat Punjab 26-0; West Bengal beat Odisha 24-7; Delhi beat Odisha 14-10; West Bengal beat Punjab 22-12.
Women
Group A: Bihar beat Gujarat 44-0; Maharashtra beat Delhi 19-10.
Group B: West Bengal beat Chandigarh 29-5; Odisha beat Kerala 64-0.
Netball
Men
Group A: Haryana beat Madhya Pradesh 69-47; Gujarat beat Punjab 57-33.
Group B: Telangana beat Bihar 101-46; Delhi beat Kerala 56-53.
Women
Group A: Haryana beat Telangana 58-42
Group B: Delhi beat Gujarat 61-47.
