Glasgow, 25 July (H.S.): India opened its medal account at the Commonwealth Games 2026 after para powerlifter Jhandu Kumar secured a bronze medal in the men’s heavyweight para powerlifting event late on Friday night.

Competing in Group B, Jhandu Kumar delivered a strong performance by successfully lifting 181 kg in his first attempt. He improved his effort in the second attempt by lifting 190 kg, strengthening his position in the competition. However, his third attempt to lift 196 kg was unsuccessful.

Weighing 72.4 kg, Jhandu Kumar earned 130.9 points based on his best successful lift. He finished at the top of Group B. The final standings were decided by combining the scores of athletes from Group A and Group B, with adjustments based on body weight and successful lifts. Jhandu secured third place overall to claim the bronze medal.

Nigeria’s Rilwan Idris won the gold medal with 132.8 points, while England’s Matthew Harding secured the silver medal with 131.0 points. Jhandu Kumar narrowly missed out on the silver medal by a margin of just 0.1 points.

The Indian lifter finished ahead of Malaysia’s Nicodemus Mangoi Moses, who scored 120.3 points, to claim the third position on the podium.

India’s other para powerlifter Sudhir, who competed in Group A, successfully lifted 182 kg and 183 kg in his first two attempts. However, his third attempt at 211 kg was unsuccessful. With a total score of 114.1 points, Sudhir narrowly missed out on a medal finish.

Jhandu Kumar’s bronze medal has given India a strong start to its campaign at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026, marking the country’s first podium finish of the prestigious multi-sport event.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar