Glasgow: India has opened its medal account at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. In the men's heavyweight para-powerlifting category, 28-year-old Jhandu Kumar finished 3rd with 130.9 points.
He lifted 181 kg and 190 kg. However, he failed to lift 196 kg and had to settle for bronze. Nigeria's Idris Riluwan (132.8) won gold, and a British athlete (131 points) won silver. India's Sudhir missed out on a medal, finishing 6th with 114.1 points.
Although Lovlina Borgohain is assured of a medal in boxing, her event has not yet taken place. Thus, Jhandu's bronze became India's first medal.
In the men's lightweight category, Ashok Malik missed out on a medal, finishing 4th. Paramjeet Kumar had to be content with 7th place. In the women's heavyweight final, Kasturi Rajamani failed in all 3 attempts. In the lightweight category, Jaspreet Kaur and Suman Devi did not win a medal.
Jhandu, from Harnaut village in Bihar, contracted polio at the age of 5, losing control of his legs. In 2010, he started lifting weights to increase his physical strength and was later attracted to javelin throw and shot put. He then began para-powerlifting training. However, to cover the cost of nutritious food, he would travel 20 km from his village to sell vegetables. Later, he took a loan from a friend, bought an e-rickshaw, and made a living with it.
In the men's 400m freestyle swimming event at the Commonwealth Games, the Indians were disappointed. Dakshan Shashikumar and Aryan Nehra failed to reach the final. In the heats, Shashikumar finished 15th with a time of 3 minutes 58.09 seconds, while Aryan finished 16th, clocking 4 minutes 00.26 seconds. There were 27 swimmers in the competition.