Weightlifting
Commonwealth Games 2026: Weightlifter Dilbag Singh withdrawn from Indian team
Dilbag Singh misses out on Commonwealth Games despite of no fault of his own.
Weightlifter Dilbag Singh. (Photo Credits: Screengrab/X)
The Indian contingent at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow was hit with another setback as weightlifter Dilbag Singh was withdrawn from the squad on Thursday.
As per the Glasgow 2026 Weightlifting Qualification System, the maximum number of athlete slots allocated to a Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) is reduced by one for every anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) committed by an athlete or support personnel between 1 June 2025 and 22 July 2026.
If multiple violations occur, the quota is reduced accordingly, and as India recorded five such anti-doping violations during this period, resulting in its weightlifting quota was slashed from 16 to 11. It is to be noted that Dilbag himself hasn't been found doping.
Doping remains a serious issue for Indian weightlifting, with athletes such as Ajith Narayana (71kg) and Vanshita Verma (86kg) already left out of the squad after failing dope tests.
And now, following confirmation from IOA President PT Usha, the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) was forced to remove one more name from the original 12-member squad.
The IWLF, therefore, has decided to withdraw Dilbag's name from the men’s 94kg category, stating he was already dealing with injury concerns in Glasgow.
When contacted, Dilbag told The Bridge that he injured his back during a training session and therefore decided to "pull out" of the contingent.
He was already training with the team in Glasgow but will now have seen his name being omitted from the Indian squad, despite being fairly selected for the Games.
Dilbag has been one of India’s regular participants in international competitions and had won the silver medal last year at the Commonwealth Championships.
The Indian weightlifting team will now be left with 11 members, 7 women and 4 men, and will begin their competition on 26th July with the first three weight categories.
The Indian contingent in total also drops down to 123 after 126 were originally named in it. Earlier, para swimmer Tejas Nandakumar was removed due classification issues whereas judoka Arun Kumar was dropped after testing positive for doping.