India's Para-Athletes at Commonwealth Games 2026: A Complete Preview

India will send a 125-member contingent, including para athletes, to the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, scheduled from July 23 to August 2.

The Games will feature 10 disciplines for able-bodied athletes and six for para-athletes. Among the para disciplines, Para Table Tennis and Para Triathlon have been excluded from the Glasgow 2026 programme.

Glasgow 2026 will feature 47 Para sport medal events, making it the largest integrated Para sport programme in the 96-year history of the Commonwealth Games and giving India another opportunity to build on its growing success in Para sport.

India’s Para Journey at the Commonwealth Games

Indian para athletes have won a total of 7 medals since their debut in Manchester 2002.

• Para Powerlifting: 3 medals
• Para Table Tennis: 2 medals
• Para Athletics: 1 medal
• Para Swimming: 1 medal

Ranjith Kumar Jayaseelan made history in 2006 by becoming the first Indian para-athlete to win a Commonwealth Games medal, claiming bronze in the seated discus throw.

Prasanta Karmakar remains India's only para swimmer to win a Commonwealth Games medal, securing bronze in the freestyle event at the 2010 Delhi Games.

At the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Sakina Khatun and Rajinder Rahulu won bronze and silver, respectively, in Para Powerlifting.

Another powerlifter to leave his mark was Sachin Chaudhary, who claimed bronze in the men's heavyweight category at the Gold Coast 2018 Games with a combined lift of 181kg.

India enjoyed its best Para campaign at Birmingham 2022, where Bhavina Patel won gold in the women's singles Classes 3-5, while Sonalben Manubhai Patel secured bronze in the same discipline.

India’s squad at Glasgow 2026

• Para Athletics (11 athletes)
• Para Swimming (5 athletes)
• Para Powerlifting( 7 athletes)
• 3x3 Women's Wheelchair Basketball (4 players)
• Para Track Cycling ( 1 athlete)

Para Athletics: Sharmila, Shilpa Kanchugarakoppalu Shyla, Devender Kumar, Rakeshbhai Bhatt, Dilip Mahadu Gavit, Shubham Juyal, Mohammed Basil Morssinganakath, Soman Rana, Ramesh Shanmugam, Sagar Thayat, Shreyansh Trivedi.

Wheelchair Basketball (3x3): Gupta Reena Rameshchandra, Irengbam Ritu Chanu, Jadhav Minakshi Harichandra, Rayannavar Laxmi Rayappa.

Para Powerlifting: Jaspreet Kaur, Suman Devi, Kasthuri Rajamani, Ashok, Parmjeet Kumar, Sudhir, Jhandu Kumar.

Para Swimming: Ravi Veera Venkata Budigina, Ali Imam, Suyash Narayan Jadhav, Chaitanya Vishwas Kulkarni, Tejas Nandakumar, Swatik Patil.

Para Track Cycling: Lisha Das.

India's best medal chances

Para Athletics: Para athletics is expected to be India's strongest discipline in Glasgow.

Key medal contenders include Devender Kumar (Discus F44), Dilip Gavit and Soman Rana, all of whom have produced strong performances on the international circuit.

India heads into Glasgow after its best-ever World Para Athletics Championships campaign in New Delhi in 2025, where the team won 22 medals (6 gold, 9 silver and 7 bronze). With Para Table Tennis absent, Para Athletics is expected to shoulder much of India's medal responsibility.

Para Powerlifting: India will once again look towards Para Powerlifting for medals.

Sudhir, the Birmingham 2022 champion whose gold was later stripped following an anti-doping rule violation, returns with an opportunity to redeem himself.

Jaspreet Kaur enters the Games after setting a national record of 101kg in 2025, while Paramjeet Kumar remains India's only World Championships medallist in the sport, making powerlifting one of India's strongest medal prospects.

Para Swimming: Para Swimming remains India's most challenging discipline.

Suyash Jadhav, an Asian Para Games medallist and three-time Paralympian, headlines the squad. However, India is still searching for its first world-level breakthrough in the sport since Prasanta Karmakar's Commonwealth bronze in 2010.

Another setback came with the exclusion of Tejas Nandakumar from the Games after organisers rejected his entry because of an outdated international classification review status.

Para Track Cycling: Sixteen-year-old Lisha Das will be India's lone representative in Para Track Cycling and the youngest member of the Indian contingent.

Her qualification itself marks an important milestone for Indian Para Cycling and reflects the steady progress the sport has made in recent years.

3x3 Wheelchair Basketball: India's qualification in 3x3 Women's Wheelchair Basketball is another historic achievement as it marks the country's first-ever team sport qualification in Para competition at the Commonwealth Games.

Competing against established teams such as Australia, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, South Africa and Nigeria will be a tough challenge, but the experience could prove invaluable ahead of the home Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad in 2030.

Challenges for Indian Para Sports at Glasgow 2026

The exclusion of Para Table Tennis is a major setback for India, considering it was one of the country's most successful disciplines at Birmingham 2022.

Despite India possessing world-class athletes in Para Badminton and Para Archery, neither sport has ever featured in the Commonwealth Games programme, limiting India's medal opportunities.

Another challenge is the limited Para sports programme itself. Only six Para sports, along with selected classifications within each discipline, have been included, reducing opportunities for many athletes.

The Commonwealth Games Federation also enforces athlete quotas for every participating nation. Even if a country has multiple world-class athletes in one discipline, quota restrictions prevent all of them from competing.

As a result, the number of opportunities available for Indian para-athletes at the Commonwealth Games remains limited despite the country's growing strength across disciplines.

India's outlook

India's strongest medal hopes lie in Para Athletics and Para Powerlifting.

Para Athletics boasts India's largest contingent, with experienced athletes such as Devender Kumar, Dilip Gavit and Soman Rana capable of challenging for podium finishes across multiple events.

Powerlifting is another discipline where India has consistently delivered. Sudhir's return, along with the presence of Paramjeet Kumar and Jaspreet Kaur, strengthens India's medal prospects.

The toughest events are likely to be Para Swimming, Para Track Cycling and 3x3 Women's Wheelchair Basketball. While Suyash Jadhav brings valuable international experience, countries such as Australia, England and Canada remain among the strongest competitors in these disciplines.

Compared to Birmingham 2022, India's best opportunity to improve its medal tally lies in Para Athletics, where the larger contingent provides multiple medal opportunities.