New Delhi: The Centre announced the list of Arjuna Awardees for their excellent performance in sports on December 20 and the list included three players here. Nasreen from Kho-Kho, Pinky from Lawn Bowl, and Kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat will receive the prestigious award from the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
One of the awardees, Pinky Singh in an exclusive interaction with ETV Bharat recalled that she started playing the sport, which made headlines after India won the gold in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, in 2007. Pinki Singh was one of the members of the Indian Lawn Bowl team, which bagged the yellow medal.
For the record, Lawn Bowl is a sport where the number of players can vary from one to four. Each match is played for two hours and 15 minutes. The sport is played in sets and each set includes four balls from each of the players. Pinky plays the sport in a team of three or four players.
According to Pinky, it was the vice principal of DRPS School RK Puram, who introduced her to the sport.
"I have been playing the sport since 2007. The credit for introducing me to this sport goes to the former vice principal of DPS School RK Puram, Dr. D R Saini. I played my first international tournament in 2009. After that, I won a medal in all the Asian Championships. Apart from that, I won a gold medal in the team event of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Also, I have bagged golds in the competitions played at the national level," she remarked.
The athlete expressed her delight after being chosen for the prestigious award. "I am happy to win the Arjuna Award and feel proud of the achievement. I have been applying for the Arjuna Award for the last four to five years. When I won gold in the Commonwealth Games I was hopeful for the Award and my efforts finally turned out to be fruitful," she added.
Pinky gave credit for her success to the Bowling Federation of India. "I want to give credit for my success to the Federation. Especially, Dr Raja Randhir Singh, Sunaina Kumari, General Secretary Lokinder, Manager Anju, and the Federation's current president Ravi Bengani, who supported me throughout my journey. They always backed me and helped me travel to the competition venue. Also, my family and friends stood by me while I was working hard to excel in the sport," added Pinky.
She also shared the turbulent times and how she bounced back after getting a divorce. "The most hard time came from me in 2022 when the team for the Commonwealth Games was going to get picked. I was divorced that year and was under a lot of stress. I was married in 2019 and things turned worse since 2020. The divorce petition was filed in 2021 but due to the Covid-19 outbreak, it was finalized in 2022. However, I never gave up and got selected for the Indian side. My hard work paid rich dividends in the end and I won the gold medal," added the 41-year-old athlete.
She stressed that there is a rise in the popularity of the sport. "A handful of people knew the sport earlier, but since we won the gold in the Commonwealth Games, its popularity is rising. Also, the number of participant teams is increasing. Earlier, only seven to eight players were participating in the National Games but now the number has jumped up to 17-18. I am a teacher at DPS R K Puram and the Lawn Bowl ground is situated there in the Yamuna Sports Complex. There are Lawn Bowl grounds in Ranchi and Kolkata. I wish that the Delhi Government should take the initiative and build a sports complex in the state for Lawn Bowl. The equipment necessary for the post is made in foreign countries but if it is made on our soil, it will be easier (for the player)," she added.
She however rued that Lawn Bowl still lacks the support like other sports. "Although the Centre provided a monetary reward for us when we won the gold in the Commonwealth Games, the sport lacks a boost like cricket or hockey. No government jobs were given nor did any companies come up with the offer of making us brand ambassadors," she lamented.
She added that the Asian Championship which will be played in March 2024 will be her next target. "A team will be selected for that event and a training camp will be organized after that. I will start my preparation after coming back from Shirdi (in Maharashtra) where I celebrate the new year. I will be aiming to bag a gold in the competition," Pinky concluded.
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