India’s Pinki Singh, left, and Rupa Rani Tirkey during the Women’s Pairs Sectional Play. (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: India’s women’s pairs combination of Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh continued its unbeaten run at the Commonwealth Games 2026, edging past Tonga in a tense tie-breaker on Saturday to move a step closer to the lawn bowls semifinals.The experienced duo, both members of India’s historic women’s fours team that won Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham in 2022, defeated Tonga’s Paris Baker and Milika Nathan 2-0 via a tie-breaker after the two sides shared the opening two sets in their Section B encounter. With the victory, India registered its third consecutive win in the women’s pairs competition and remained firmly in the race for a semifinal berth.

England also has three wins from three matches in Section B but sits atop the standings after claiming one more set than the Indian pair.

India recover from early setback before holding nerve

Tonga made the brighter start, taking the lead after the opening end with Paris Baker producing an impressive spell that put the Indians under early pressure.Rupa, however, responded brilliantly in the second end with a superb second bowl, while skip Pinki Singh marshalled the contest expertly as India levelled the scores at 1-1.The momentum quickly shifted in India’s favour as the duo combined effectively over the remaining ends to seal the opening set 5-2.The second set proved far more challenging. Baker and skip Milika Nathan dominated the early exchanges, racing to a commanding 6-0 advantage after three ends.Rupa and Pinki attempted a late recovery but were unable to erase the deficit as Tonga claimed the set 6-4, forcing the contest into a decisive tie-breaker.When the pressure was at its highest, the Indian pair delivered. Rupa gave India the early advantage before Pinki calmly finished the job, sealing another crucial victory and keeping India’s unbeaten record intact.In lawn bowls, the lead is responsible for opening each end and placing bowls as close to the jack as possible, while the skip, usually the team’s most experienced player, calls the tactics and delivers the final bowls of each end.

Disappointment for Indian swimmers

It was, however, a disappointing day in the pool for India.Dhakshan Shashikumar and Aryan Nehra failed to progress to the men’s 400m freestyle final after finishing outside the qualification places at the Tollcross Swimming Centre.Shashikumar clocked 3:58.09 to finish 15th overall among 27 swimmers. Competing in Heat 3, he briefly climbed to seventh position at the halfway mark but faded in the closing stages.Nehra, swimming in Heat 4, recorded 4:00.26 to place 16th overall after remaining at the back of the field throughout his race.