Jhandu Kumar opened India's medal account at the Commonwealth Games 2026 by winning bronze in the men's heavyweight para powerlifting event. Competing in Group B, Kumar recorded a 190kg effort and finished with 130.9 points. The Bihar-born athlete's podium finish follows years of progress after switching from shot put and discus to powerlifting. A national record-holder, Kumar had already earned international bronze medals in 2025 and 2026, making his Commonwealth Games success another major milestone in his growing para-sport career.
Jhandu Kumar Wins Bronze, Opens India’s Medal Account at Commonwealth Games 2026
Para powerlifter Jhandu Kumar clinched bronze in the men's heavyweight event on Friday, earning India its first medal of the Commonwealth Games 2026.
India’s medal tally finally got moving on Friday night, and it was Jhandu Kumar who did the trick. The para powerlifter fought his way to a bronze medal in the men’s heavyweight event, delivering a good performance when it mattered.
Kumar looked confident from the very beginning and competed in Group B. He started with 181kg and finished with 130.9 points after a 190kg effort. He was in the lead of the standings for a while before Matthew Harding overtook him to hold second place; Riluwan Idris was the leader in gold.
This might have been the first time many fans had heard Kumar’s name. But if you have been following Indian para sports, his rise has been in the making for years.
A Journey That Didn't Come Easy
Life was never easy growing up in Harnaut, a town in Bihar’s Nalanda district. Kumar was born with polio; his father made a living selling vegetables. It seemed a far-off dream to win international medals, but he never walked away from it.
Powerlifting was not his first love. In 2017, he was a para athlete competing in shot put and discus throw. That changed slowly, in hours in the gym. His weights became more than training; they became his game.
But even then, it didn’t happen overnight. His first National Championship ended with no valid lift to his credit. That kind of disappointment would have been hard to bounce back from for many athletes, but Kumar took it as a lesson, not a setback.
That performance still caught the eye of Paralympic bronze medallist Rajinder Singh Rahelu, who invited him to train at the Sports Authority of India National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), Gandhinagar. That turned out to be the break he needed.
After that, the progress was steady. In 2025, he set a national record with a lift of 205kg and later improved it to 206kg at the Khelo India Para Games. He was a worthy inclusion in India’s squad for the Commonwealth Games, having won bronze medals at the Beijing World Cup 2025 and the Asian & Oceania Championships 2026.
The medal on Friday was the pay-off for years of quiet working behind the scenes. It also gave India exactly the kind of start every team hopes for at a major multi-sport event.
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India Enjoys a Busy Opening Day
Elsewhere, there were some encouraging performances. Putul Sonowal defeated Falkland Islands’ Cecil Alexander in lawn bowls, while Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh beat the South African pair 6-4, 7-5 in the women’s pairs.
There was more good news from the boxing ring as Jadumani Singh comfortably defeated home favourite Aaron Cullen in the men’s 55kg bout.
Ravi Veera Venkata Bhavani Karthik Budigina and Ali Imam qualified for the men’s 100m freestyle S13 final in para swimming, finishing fourth and seventh respectively. Srihari Nataraj too progressed to the semifinal of 50m backstroke but failed to make the cut for the final.
India’s para powerlifters also had a mixed bag of results. Ashok finished fourth, Parmjeet Kumar seventh, Jaspreet Kaur and Suman Devi sixth and seventh respectively, while Kasthuri Rajamani failed to lift successfully. Sudhir took sixth place in the men’s heavyweight division.
With many medal events left, India will be hoping this bronze is just the start. But for now, the focus is on Jhandu Kumar, whose persistence has given the country its first reason to cheer at the Commonwealth Games 2026.
