‘He made the whole country proud’: PM Modi reacts as Jhandu Kumar wins India’s first medal at Commonwealth Games 2026 | Commonwealth Games News

“An impressive performance by Jhandu Kumar, who opened India’s medal haul at #CWG2026 by winning Bronze in the Men’s Heavyweight Para Powerlifting event! Well done to him. His victory is a powerful display of great strength, unwavering determination and years of hard work. By overcoming every challenge and excelling in the world, he has made the entire country proud and inspired countless Indians,” he wrote.Jhandu bagged the bronze medal with a personal best of 190kg, scoring 130.9 points to register India’s first medal at the Glasgow Games.The Indian lifter opened the competition with a successful lift of 181 kg, which earned him 124.7 points. He then went up to 190kg on his second attempt, a lift that took him to the top of the leaderboard.Chasing the gold medal, Jhandu picked 196kg in the final attempt, a weight that would have surpassed the Commonwealth Games record set in Birmingham 2022. However, he could not complete the lift and settled for the bronze medal.The podium finish also gave India its first para powerlifting medal of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.Earlier in the day, Ashok came close to winning a medal in the men’s lightweight event. He finished fourth after producing a personal best 200kg lift, which earned him 143.8 points. Paramjeet Kumar finished seventh in the same event with a personal best lift of 176 kg.India also had three women in action. Jaspreet Kaur finished sixth in the women’s lightweight category after successfully lifting 100 kg, while Suman Devi finished seventh with a similar performance. In the women’s heavyweight competition, Kasthuri Rajamani was unable to register a proper climb after failing in all three of her attempts.