The Bihar para powerlifter said he felt as if he was “flying”, while coach Rajinder Singh Rahelu blamed a miscommunication and calculation error for the narrow miss.
Jhandu Kumar opened India’s medal tally at the Commonwealth Games 2026 with bronze in the men’s heavyweight para powerlifting final. | IANS
India’s wait for its first medal at the Commonwealth Games 2026 ended early Saturday (IST) when Jhandu Kumar claimed bronze in the men’s heavyweight para powerlifting final in Glasgow.
A successful 190kg lift gave the Indian 130.9 points. He finished only 0.1 points behind England’s Matthew Harding in the battle for silver.
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Jhandu remained in contention for a higher place until his third attempt. He went for 196kg, a lift that would have broken the Commonwealth Games meet record set at Birmingham 2022, but could not complete it.
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Nigeria’s Riluwan Idris secured gold with 132.8 points. Harding took silver with 131.0, leaving Jhandu 1.9 points behind the champion.
Jhandu opened the competition with a successful lift of 181kg, worth 124.7 points. He raised the bar to 190kg on his second attempt and moved briefly to the top of the standings.
He finished first in Group B with 130.9 points. Uganda’s Dennis Mbaziira followed with 114.1, while Australia’s Ben Wright recorded 110.9.
The medals were decided after the results from both groups were combined.
“I feel as if I’m flying. This is my first medal. Only one thing was going through my mind: that I have to win the medal. Just have to win,” Jhandu told ANI after the final.
He thanked his family and coaches for supporting his training and promised to improve further.
Jhandu also credited the Target Olympic Podium Scheme and the Sports Authority of India for providing training support.
“I’m extremely grateful to them. We practice there, and this medal belongs to them, in a way,” he said.
Jhandu’s coach, Rajinder Singh Rahelu, said the team had entered the competition with its calculations in place and had targeted gold.
“We already knew, we had done the calculations. We had targeted gold, but for some reason, it was missed,” Rahelu told ANI.
He attributed the narrow miss to a communication problem and an error while calculating the required lift.
“The competition for gold was very tough, as we saw. But it wasn’t that; it was just miscommunication. I was a bit far, and there was some difficulty in calculation. As you saw, the medal was missed by just two points,” he said.
Rahelu explained that such a points difference could amount to only a few kilograms on the bar.
“Two points means 2-3 kilograms. But considering how the body performs in such close calls, there was a slight error in calculation. But it’s okay, we have a medal, and we’ve opened India’s account, which is a very good thing,” he said.
Indian para powerlifting coach Jitender Pal Singh also said Jhandu had been in the race for gold before the final attempt went wrong.
“At one point, we were contenders for gold, but the third lift got a bit messed up; that lift was touched. If that lift had been confirmed, we would have had a gold medal today,” Singh told ANI.
Born on January 1, 1997, in Harnaut in Bihar’s Nalanda district, Jhandu has lived with the effects of polio since birth. His father worked as a vegetable vendor.
Jhandu entered competitive sport in 2017 through para athletics. He competed in the F55 shot put and discus throw events and won medals at district and state competitions.
His interest in powerlifting developed during strength-training sessions at the gym. A recommendation made at a state championship later prompted him to switch sports.
That decision eventually took him to the Commonwealth Games podium in Glasgow.
India had narrowly missed a medal earlier in the men’s lightweight para powerlifting event.
Ashok Malik lifted a personal-best 200kg and scored 143.8 points, but finished fourth. Malaysia’s Bonnie Bunyau Gustin secured bronze with 153.5 points.
England’s Mark Swan won gold with 153.9 points following a best lift of 222kg. Nigeria’s Roland Ezuruike also scored 153.9 but took silver after the countback.
Parmjeet Kumar finished seventh for India with a best lift of 176kg and 135.6 points.
In the women’s lightweight competition, Jaspreet Kaur finished sixth after lifting 100kg for 96.4 points. Suman Devi placed seventh with a 100kg lift and 88.4 points.
Kasthuri Rajamani failed to register a valid lift in the women’s heavyweight final after three unsuccessful attempts.
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