Commonwealth Games 2026: Jhandu Kumar wins bronze; Ashok finishes fourth in para powerlifting

India opened its medal account at the 2026 Commonwealth Games after Jhandu Kumar clinched the bronze medal in the men's heavyweight para powerlifting final in Glasgow on Saturday.

The Indian registered a best successful lift of 190kg, which earned him 130.9 points and secured a place on the podium.

Earlier in the day, India's Ashok narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the men's lightweight para powerlifting event despite his lifetime best.

Competing in one of India's first medal events of the day, Ashok produced a lift of 200kg, earning 143.8 points to finish just outside the podium.

He opened with a successful 195kg lift before improving to 200kg on his second attempt. The Indian made one final push at 205kg but was unable to complete the lift.

Compatriot Paramjeet Kumar finished seventh after registering 176kg on his opening attempt worth 135.6 points. He was unsuccessful in both his second and third attempts at 179kg, ending the competition with just one valid lift.

In para swimming, Ravi Veera Venkata progressed to the men's S13 100m freestyle final as the third-fastest qualifier, while Imam Ali also made his Commonwealth Games debut.

However, in the final, he dropped down a step from his place and finished fourth with 57. 57s and missed out on a podium finish, while Ali Imam clocked 1:03.73s to finish 7th.

Bowls teams continue to impress

In the women's pairs, India registered their second win at the Games by defeating South Africa in straight sets. India won the match 6-4, 7-5 to register its second victory and move to the top of the Section B standings with three points.

In men's bowls, Putul Sonowal defeated Cecil Alexander of the Falkland Islands in a tie-breaker to register his second consecutive win at the Commonwealth Games 2026. Putul won the first set 7-5, lost the second 8-6, and sealed the match 1-0 in the tie-breaker.

Elsewhere, Jaspreet Kaur and Suman Devi finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the women's lightweight para powerlifting competition.

Jaspreet ended with a best successful lift of 100kg, earning 96.4 points, while Suman finished with 100kg and 88.4 points after her two attempts at 103kg were ruled 'No Lift'.

With the conclusion of the women's lightweight events, India's campaign in the lightweight para powerlifting category ends without a medal.

Meanwhile, the Indian men's artistic gymnastics team finished 7th in the final as the quartet of Tapan Mohanty, Yogeshwar Singh, Tapeswarnath Das and Swathish K.P. scored an aggregate total of 208.550 Points.

Earlier in the day, Srihari Nataraj qualified for the men's 50m backstroke semifinals after clocking 25.52 seconds to finish fifth in his heat and 14th overall.

He improved his position in the final, finishing fifth with a time of 25.29s, but was far short of his fifth-place finish in the same event at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games four years ago.

India's campaign will continue later in the evening with Jaspreet Kaur and Suman Devi in the women's para powerlifting events, and Jadumani Singh in the men's 55kg boxing round of 32.