The 23rd edition of the Commonwealth Games will commence in Glasgow on Thursday, July 23, with 74 nations participating across 215 events in 10 sports.
Lawn Bowls will be the first event of the edition and will be held before the scheduled opening ceremony. India had won two medals in the event in the previous iteration of the event in Birmingham.
The Men’s Fours team comprising Sunil Bahadur, Navneet Singh, Chandan Singh and Dinesh Kumar lost out in the final to Northern Ireland to settle for silver. The Women’s Fours team — Rupa Rani Tirkey, Nayanmoni Saikia, Lovely Choubey and Pinki Singh won gold my beating South Africa.
Having regularly featured at the quadrennial event, the sport has enjoyed a rich history of competition. Scotland and England are the most successful nations in the sport at Commonwealth Games, winning 20 gold medals each.
What are the rules of Lawn Bowls event?
As the name suggests, Lawn Bowls is played on a green stretch of land. The sport is also known as Outdoor Bowls. The basic aim in Lawn Bowls is to roll a bowl towards the target, called ‘the Jack’.
It is played in four formats — singles, pairs, triples, and fours. Only two teams can compete in a single Lawn Bowls game.
A game starts with a team rolling ‘the Jack’ from one end towards the opposite end. The Jack must travel at least 23 metres. The point where it settles, is the ultimate target for the players for that end.
Lawn Bowls involves placing your team’s bowl closer to the yellow-coloured Jack, or the target, than the opponent. | Photo Credit: Bowls England/Twitter
The teams then take turns to roll their bowls towards the target. The number of attempts per team from each end depends on the format. A team gets four attempts in the singles format. On the other hand, in the multi-player formats, a team gets two throws per player.
A bowl used in Lawn Bowls weigh around 1.5 kgs. It is heavier on one side which allows a player to curl it.
The scores are calculated when the total number of allocated throws is completed. This marks the completion of that particular end, or round, and the game moves on to the next end.
How are points awarded in Lawn Bowls?
The rules of Lawn Bowls are simple. The team that places its bowls closer to the target wins the points. In the fours or four-player format, each team gets eight throws, or rolls, from one end. The match is completed after the teams have played from all 18 ends.
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A team is awarded points for each bowl it places closer to ‘the Jack’ than its opponents closest bowl.
For example: If team A places two bowls closer to ‘the Jack’ than team B’s closest bowl, it will win two points for the end. If team A places three bowls closer to the target than team B’s closest bowl, it will earn three points.
The team with more points after 18 ends will win. Alternatively, teams can pre-decide the number of ends or points that will be played in a match.
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Published on Jul 23, 2026