Ignorance pulls crowd to lawn bowls

Guwahati, Feb 14 (UNI) The notion that number of spectators indicates the popularity of a sport proved wrong in case of the crowd at the venue of lawn bowls in the 33rd National Games here today.

The debutant sport had spectators hording to see it, but ask anyone what sport they had come to witness and one can expect answers ranging from pure ignorance to the absurd.

Many thought it was bowling, made popular by Bollywood movies while others took it to be a form of marbles, played with bigger balls.

Attempts by some of the volunteers to explain the game to them proved futile. The people enjoyed interpreting the sport according to their own assumptions rather than going for the official line.

The league matches of the sport are slated this evening, but people made a beeline at the open-air venue right from the morning to watch the players practice.

Eight teams -- Asom, Rajasthan, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, West Bengal and Jharkhand -- are participating in the competition though the players are mostly from Delhi, who would be representing the other states also so that all teams are evenly matched.

Aussie coach Richard Gale is here with two of his assistants to train the players. The inclusion of the sport in the 2010 Commonwealth Games has led Indian government to go the extra mile to ensure that the country can put up a good team.

The Aussie trio have opened two lawn bowls clubs in New Delhi and are planning a national academy soon. They are targetting to prepare a competent national team within fours years.

UNI