When India’s grass handball team faced off in the UK a week before the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the team had no right to practice at the rinks at Victoria Park, Leamington Spa. The fact that the side hasn’t had a coach for a while doesn’t help either.
“We didn’t know what to do then. We searched the internet for the nearest bowling clubs. We called quite a few of them, but they were all too expensive,” said Sunil Bahadur, a member of the men’s team. Sports star.
But on Tuesday, Indian women – Rupa Rani Tirkey, Pinki, Lovely Choubey and Nayanmoni Saikia – made history by winning the country’s first gold medal in pitching. South Africa started the competition lightly, failing to score a single point in five consecutive finishes. The score was 8-2 in favor of India after finishing 7 as Esme Kruger’s keen thinking combined with some very precise effort gained the advantage and South Africa led 10-8 after 11 finishes. In the end, however, the Indians prevailed.
India’s grass handball team practiced at Bishopswood Bowling Club in Norrice Lea ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. | Image credit: INSTAGRAM / BishBashBowls
The miraculous victory would not have been possible without the unexpected help from Michael Spiro, a North London resident. The president of the Bishopswood Bowling Club in Norrice Lea, Spiro, has agreed to provide the Indian team free of charge.
“They don’t charge a dime from us. There is nothing to ask,” said Navneet Singh, a member of the Indian team.
Spiro, who competed in the women’s quarterfinal final, said, “They were surprised we didn’t charge them. For us, it’s not a revenue band. We are a ‘not for profit’ club. We collect fees from members to cover the club’s operating costs. They came here and made us feel good. That is enough payment. ”
He still remembers how India submitted a complete but basic list of requirements before arriving at his club. “They ask us simple things like available memory, equipment, speed of the pitch – we don’t even know what that means – what hours can they do, are there pushers or not? jack, if they can carry it. their own device. But it’s all too simple, really. When I got to the third item on the list, I said: ‘Who’s reading this? These are just the basics,” Spiro chuckled.
“We said whatever you need, we will help you. It’s a big list, but we say, ‘Don’t worry. Just let us know when you need us’. ”
Spiro also brought club captain Michael Hart and pitchers Bradley Bendell and Brett Schuman for Tuesday’s game. The whole team went to cheer for the Indian women’s team. Midway through the second half, Schuman even requested a few Indian flags from Navneet, which they waved; they even stuck a few [flags] to their hats.
(LR) Brett Schuman, Bradley Bendell, Michael Hart and Michael Spiro attended the grass bowl final (women’s quarterback) between India and South Africa on Tuesday. | Image credit: INSTAGRAM / BishBashBowls
“They made us sweat a little, but they made it through the line, didn’t they?” Schuman bells in.
“The moment they entered the final here yesterday, they were like ‘please come here’. And we drove here from north west London. We cannot refuse their request. We think watching them, cheering for them, will mean a lot to them. With the results, it’s all worth it,” said Spiro.
Spiro found it hard to believe that most members of the Indian team only started bowling in 2007 at the National Games in Guwahati, while preparing for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
“What? It was unbelievable what they achieved then. They were first-class pitchers,” said Spiro.
“They are lovely people. It’s great to have a team with a completely different culture come to our club. Can’t believe we’ve got the best in the world a few days back. The athletes are now gold medal winners,” he added.
The best part, Bendell and Hart add, is that the Indians have allowed the duo to go head-to-head with them. “They trained together, exercised, and then they played with us,” Hart said. We beat them most of the times. I’m joking. (laughs) We didn’t beat them even once.”
For Spiro, the attitude of the Indians appealed to him the most. “There are some other teams that want to be at our club, but they want to be exclusive. They don’t want no one else to play with them, watch them or be at the clubhouse. India is not asking for anything like that. If they did, perhaps the attitude would have changed. We now have the jerseys signed by the champions,” he said.
The first thing team manager Anju Luthra did after her wards won the gold medal with a final score of 17-10 was run to Spiro and Co. and thank them with a small packet of dried fruit.
When asked about it, Spiro smiled. “Yeah, didn’t I tell you they were a lovely bunch of people?”
