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A relatively inexperienced Indian team, still coming to terms with playing competitive Lawn Bowls with the world's elite, put in a spirited performance for the second straight day at the 8-nation Invitational Lawn Bowls Event being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi this week. The event which a test pilot as far as the venue and facilities are concerned in the run-up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games taking place in October, sees Australia, New Zealand, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Malaysia, South Africa and hosts India competing in three events each in the Men's and Women's category.

Yesterday, India had pulled off a shock upset in the Triples event in both categories with the team of Dinesh Kumar, Chandan Singh and Ruptu Gogoi shocking the fancied Australians 8-5, 4-14 in a tiebreak, while the ladies contingent of Tania Choudhury, Pinki and Rup Rani Tirkey defeated England 9-8, 9-8. India had lost six other matches on the day, including their opening contests in the aforementioned categories to England and Malaysia respectively.

Asian Championship (Fours) gold medalist Faranza Khan made an excellent start to Day 2 for the hosts by defeating Claire Johnston of Scotland in a tiebreak, after the pair were locked with a score of 4-11, 12-9 at the end of their contest. She then carried her form forward into the second session beating Aussie Kelsey Cottrell in straights sets 9-8, 7-4.

Speaking about her performance Faranza Khan said, “It has been a great experience playing here as the facilities available are at par with the international standards. I am happy with my performance and I am looking forward for other matches.”

India carried the momentum forward into other events as well, with Manisha Kumari and Arzoo Rani edging New Zealand’s Manu Timoti and Jan Shirley in a tiebreak after swapping sets 16-1, 4-12 in the Women’s Pairs. The Men's Pairs team of Sunil Bahadur and Mahip Tirkey had no such luck, going down 8-3, 14-5 to Gerry Baker and Brian Dixon of South Africa, but Mohammad Raja in the Men's Singles bounced back in the second session to defeat South Africa’s Wayne Perry in a tiebreak. Raja lost to Australia’s Leif Selby in the morning 1-17, 5-9.

Speaking about India’s performance Ms. Sunaina Kumari, President, Lawn Bowls Federation of India (LBFI) said, “I am happy and satisfied with India’s performance across various categories. This is a very young team and we are working hard to be at par with the bests in the world. An event of this stature will be of great help for the future of Lawn Bowls in India”.

Match scores of Session 1:

Women’s Singles: Australia beat South Africa 8-4, 11-7, New Zealand beat England, India beat Scotland (4-11, 12-9) (India won in tie breaker) and Malaysia beat Northern Ireland (8-5, 9-4)

Men’s Singles: Australia beat India (17-1, 9-5), South Africa beat England by 3-9, 8-6 (South Africa won in tie breaker), Malaysia beat New Zealand (12-4, 7-6) and Northern Ireland beat Scotland by 8-9, 10-3 (NIR won in tie breaker)

Women’s Triples: Malaysia beat Australia (10-10, 7-4), Scotland beat England (9-7, 9-5) New Zealand beat India by 7-3, 5-7 (NZL won in tie breaker) and Australia beat Scotland (8-4, 7-7).

Men’s Triples: Australia beat Scotland by 5-4, 8-3 (AUS won in tie breaker), Malaysia beat England by 6-12, 12-7 (MAL won in tie breaker), South Africa beat India (11-4, 9-6) and South Africa beat Northern Ireland (14-5, 7-6).

Match score of Session 2:

Women’s Pairs: South Africa beat Australia (8-7, 8-5), Scotland beat England (14-2, 10-5), India beat New Zealand by 16-1, 4-12 in a tie breaker and Malaysia beat Northern Ireland (9-3, 18-3).

Men’s Pairs: Australia beat Northern Island (13-3, 16-3), New Zealand beat England (9-8, 8-7), South Africa beat India (8-3, 14-5) and Scotland beat Malaysia (10-5, 15-4).

Women’s Singles: India beat Australia 9-8, 7-4, South Africa beat England by 3-10, 8-2 in a tie breaker, New Zealand beat Malaysia (10-4, 8-7) and Scotland beat Northern Ireland by15-7, 6-10 in a tie breaker.

Men’s Singles: New Zealand beat Australia by 8-5, 0-18 in a tie breaker, Northern Ireland beat England by 4-9, 13-3 in a tie breaker, India beat South Africa by 15-7, 5-7 in a tie breaker and Malaysia beat Scotland (11-4, 6-6).