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Putul Sonowal produced one of India’s most remarkable results at a Commonwealth Games, stunning reigning world champion and World Bowls Hall of Famer Ryan Bester of Canada in a dramatic tiebreak on his debut at CWG 2026 in Glasgow on Thursday. The Asian champion’s opening bowl in the tiebreak landed closest to the kitty to seal a famous victory.
Glasgow, Scotland: There are upsets in sport, and then there are the ones that make you reach for the record books to check they are real. Putul Sonowal defeating Ryan Bester at the 2026 Commonwealth Games belongs firmly in the second category. The Assam-born bowler, the reigning Asian singles champion, arrived at the Scottish Event Campus on Thursday as a debutant with something to prove and left it as the man who had just beaten the best singles bowler on the planet. India’s Glasgow Games could not have started more dramatically.
The Perfect Tiebreak Bowl
Sonowal started his campaign in Section D of the preliminary competition, defeating Canada’s Bester in a thrilling encounter that went down to the wire and was decided in a tiebreaker. Sonowal won the tiebreaker after Match 2 in Round 1 of Section D had ended 1-1 in regulation time.
The first set had been a masterclass in patience and precision from Sonowal. Ranked 21st in the world, the Indian clinched a close first set 5-4 to take the lead against Bester, a two-time CWG silver medallist. The Hall of Famer, however, was not done. The Canadian came back and took the second set with a 7-3 scoreline — a dominant display that underlined exactly why Bester is considered one of the greatest bowlers of his generation and suggested the tiebreak was formality before the world champion closed it out.
It was not. Bester won the toss and had the first roll in the tiebreak. However, reigning Asian champion Sonowal’s opening attempt landed close to the kitty, which ultimately proved enough to seal the win. One bowl. One chance. One moment of perfection under the most intense pressure a bowler can face on their debut — and Sonowal held his nerve completely.
“I feel very good because for me this match was very important; playing against the world champion means it is not easy to win against him. So I tried my best,” Sonowal said after the match, the words barely capturing the magnitude of what he had just done.
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Who Is Ryan Bester?
The identity of Sonowal’s victim makes the result all the more staggering. Bester has won seven World Outdoor Championships medals in singles and pairs, including a gold and a bronze in singles and pairs in the 2023 edition. He won a bronze in the men’s singles at the 2006 CWG in Manchester before claiming a silver each in 2014 in Glasgow and 2018 on the Gold Coast. He was inducted into the inaugural World Bowls Hall of Fame class in 2025 — the sport’s equivalent of being put in a museum while still actively competing at the highest level.
For context, Bester’s CWG record before Thursday included three medals across three editions. His experience of competing in Glasgow — the very city where he won silver in 2014 — made this a home-away-from-home appearance for the Canadian. None of it mattered. Sonowal’s kitty bowl was closer.
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The Bigger Picture: India’s Bowls Renaissance
Sonowal’s win did not arrive in isolation. Earlier in the day, the Indian combine of Pinki Singh and Rupa Rani Tirkey battled past Malta in a dramatic tiebreak in women’s pairs to open their campaign with a hard-fought victory in the sectional Group Play stage. The Indian pair of Rupa Rani Tirkey (lead) and Pinki Singh (skip) dished out a dominant show in the first set, winning it 7-1 before Malta fought back to force a tiebreak, with Pinki producing the decisive bowl to seal India’s second win of the day.
Both Tirkey and Pinki were part of the Women’s Fours team that won gold in the 2022 Birmingham CWG — and their experience showed when it mattered most. India had claimed a similar haul in Birmingham, winning gold in the women’s fours and silver in the men’s fours, both since excluded from the Glasgow programme. Sonowal highlighted India’s success at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and noted that the sport has gained more recognition in India after the Birmingham Games.
“After the Commonwealth Games, lawn bowls has started getting a lot of publicity in India, and I hope that we will bring medals in this Commonwealth as well. India’s lawn bowls should move ahead, and Indian lawn bowls players should get a chance to do well in the next tournament,” he added — the words of a man who knows that Thursday’s result, beamed back to Assam and across the country, has done more for lawn bowls in India than a hundred press releases ever could.
What Comes Next
Sonowal will next face Cecil Alexander of Falkland Islands in his second Section D match on Friday, while Pinki Singh and Rupa Tirkey are set to take on South Africa. The bowlers who win each of the four sections — A to D — will qualify for the semi-finals, with Section D featuring six players in a round-robin format.
For Sonowal, the path to a semi-final now runs through opponents who will arrive knowing exactly what the 43-year-old from Assam is capable of. Bester knew. He just couldn’t stop him.
Result: Putul Sonowal (IND) bt Ryan Bester (CAN) — Tiebreak (Set 1: 5-4 Sonowal, Set 2: 7-3 Bester) — CWG 2026, Men’s Singles Section D, Round 1
Also: Pinki Singh & Rupa Rani Tirkey (IND) bt Malta (Rebecca Rixon & Connie Rixon) — Tiebreak — CWG 2026, Women’s Pairs Section B, Round 1
Next matches (Friday, July 24):
Putul Sonowal vs Cecil Alexander (Falkland Islands) — Men’s Singles Section D
Pinki Singh & Rupa Rani Tirkey vs South Africa — Women’s Pairs Section B
