New Delhi, July 29: Para powerlifter Jhandu Kumar arrived at Ahmedabad Airport on Tuesday after securing a bronze medal for India at the Commonwealth Games 2026. He credited his coach, Rajinder Singh Relu, for this achievement.
Jhandu Kumar expressed his joy, stating, “Winning a medal for India brings me immense happiness. The support from people on social media has been overwhelming. I aim to perform even better in the future. I trained in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, which helped me reach this milestone. My targets are the Asian Games and the Olympics. My coach played a crucial role in this victory.”
Coach Rajinder Singh Relu shared his excitement about Jhandu’s success, noting, “Fifteen days before the competition, Jhandu suffered a minor shoulder strain. He thought he might not win a medal, but we reassured him. Jhandu worked incredibly hard and brought home a medal for the country. We regret missing out on gold, but we aim to convert this into gold next time.”
Relu also acknowledged the support from the Gandhinagar SAI Center, attributing the victory to the government’s efforts in promoting sports. “The government has made significant improvements in sports. Jhandu’s medal exemplifies this. Para powerlifting began at SAI Gandhinagar in 2019 with just two athletes. Today, we have 13 players, including Asian Games medalist Parmjeet Singh. SAI Gandhinagar has been a strong supporter of para sports.”
Jhandu Kumar opened India’s medal tally by winning bronze in the men’s heavyweight para powerlifting with a best lift of 190 kilograms and 130.9 points. He topped Group B with this score, easily surpassing Uganda’s Denis Mbaziira (114.1) and Australia’s Ben Wright (110.9).
In the combined standings, Nigeria’s Riluwan Idris won gold with a best overall lift of 132.8, while England’s Matthew Harding secured silver with 131.0. Jhandu’s score of 130.9 was sufficient for bronze, just 0.1 points behind Harding in a tight contest for silver.
On Monday, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur honored Jhandu Kumar with a cash prize of ₹1,000,000 for his bronze medal win at the Commonwealth Games 2026.
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