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Indian para-powerlifting coach Jitender Pal Singh expressed immense happiness after Jhandu Kumar clinched a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow, saying the achievement demonstrated India's potential to compete at the highest level.
Speaking to ANI after Jhandu's podium finish, Singh described para powerlifting as one of the toughest para sports and said winning a medal at the Commonwealth Games indicates that an athlete can also contend for medals at the Olympic level. "There can't be more happiness than this. Para Powerlifting is the toughest among para sports, and winning a medal here means we can think of ourselves at the world level. These competitions are at a world level; winning a medal here means you are also a contender for a medal in the Olympics. There can't be a tougher competition than this," Singh told ANI. The coach said the team was particularly relieved and happy to secure a medal, as Indian para powerlifters have consistently won medals at the Commonwealth Games. "Winning a medal makes us very happy, a happiness that can't be expressed in words. We were a bit scared because Para Powerlifting has always won medals in all Commonwealth Games. This was the last competition, so we were a bit scared inside that we might miss the medal," he said. Reflecting on Jhandu's performance, Singh said the Indian lifter had been in contention for the gold medal but could not complete his final attempt. "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," he added. Jhandu secured the podium finish with a best successful lift of 190kg, earning 130.9 points. He began strongly by lifting 181kg in his first attempt for 124.7 points before improving his mark to 190kg in the second lift, which briefly moved him to the top of the standings. In his final attempt, Jhandu went for 196kg, which would have broken the Commonwealth Games meet record set at Birmingham 2022. However, he could not complete the lift and eventually finished with the bronze medal. Earlier, India's lightweight para powerlifters missed out on medals. Ashok finished fourth in the men's final with a personal-best 200kg lift, scoring 143.8 points, while Paramjeet Kumar took seventh with 176kg and 135.6 points. In the women's lightweight category, Jaspreet Kaur placed sixth after lifting 100kg for 96.4 points, while Suman Devi finished seventh with a best lift of 100kg and 88.4 points. Kasthuri Rajamani, meanwhile, failed to record a valid lift in the women's heavyweight final after all three of her attempts were unsuccessful. Jhandu's bronze marked India's first medal in para powerlifting at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. (ANI)
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