Commonwealth victorious Nayanmani Saikia walks the street in Lakhipur; Believes her medal will popularise the sport in India

There are no shortcuts to success. Hard work and perseverance are the most important necessities for achieving success in any sport. The one mantra that each athlete follows is to stay focused and never deter from their goal. It takes a hard toll on mental strength and this is what stands between success. Nayanmoni Saikia too started her journey in 2008 keeping the same mantra in mind. After racing through jillion hurdles, in 2022 Saikia achieved the biggest of her career. She won “gold” at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, 2022 in a “not-so-popular” sport, the lawn bowls.

Lawn Bowl is still a growing sport in India and until this year’s Commonwealth Games, probably many didn’t know that there was a lawn bowl team participating from India. Among all these, winning a medal in this sport for India was like a daydream. But that dream is what kept Nayanmoni Saikia motivated and that dream was turned into a reality in the Birmingham Commonwealth this year. It was a historic win for team India at lawn bowl and that too a gold medal. Nayanmoni was an integral part of making this history for the country.

Like any other athlete of India, Assam’s Nayanmoni also had a very difficult way to this gold. She started as a weightlifter but due to a spinal injury, she had to let go of that. But she didn’t give up there, she chose a different sport which would not worsen her injury. If some description fits her the best, then it would be “Once an athlete, always an athlete”. In 2008, she chose lawn bowl or maybe lawn bowl chose her. Back then, the lawn bowl had just made its debut in the Indian athletic scene which made it even more difficult for Nayanmoni from the start of her career.

Assam’s golden athlete came to Lakhipur last Sunday at the invitation of MLA Kaushik Rai. It was the finale of the MLA Cup of Lakhipur and she graced the event as the Chief Guest. At the finale, she pointed out some highlights of her career and talked about the challenges she had to face as an athlete. She said, “I was geared up to play at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, in fact, I was selected for the national team. But my elder brother passed away that year and considering my mental state, the federation kept me on standby. I couldn’t play that year but was not disheartened. Rather, I kicked off again with great determination”. She further said, “In 2011, the National Games were held at Jharkhand and I won two gold medals there. This win gave me the call to play at the 2014 Commonwealth”.

Nayanmoni hails from a very humble background and she chose a sport whose federation was not financially strong enough to support the athletes in different aspects. So to establish herself, she had to hustle real hard. She faced challenges at every step of her way but was never deterred from her track. After her stunning performance at the nationals, she impressed the international stage as well. In 2013, she tied the knot of marriage and in 2016 she achieved motherhood. This resulted in her facing several physical challenges, but she was habituated to challenges all her life.

Athlete Saikia hopes her victory at Birmingham will certainly give a new direction to the sport of lawn bowls. She said, “There was a time when we had to burn a hole in our pocket to participate in various tournaments. Many players couldn’t play at the nationals even after their selection to the team just because of their financial condition. I am hopeful that this picture will change now”. What is surprising is that, even after all these years, the team had to participate at the Commonwealth without any coach. About the opportunities of lawn bowls at the state, she said, “The success of athletes of any sports depends on the infrastructure. Our state doesn’t even have any ground for this sport, except one for the entire state. I hope there will be more fields for this sport in the state soon”.