CWG 2026: Curse hits fourth as Ashok Malik misses out on a medal in power play

The dreaded fourth place finish, a recurring heartbreak that famously haunts Indian sport at the Olympics, reappeared on Friday at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. In the men’s lightweight para powerlifting event at the SEC Armadillo, Indian powerlifter Ashok Malik produced a personal best, only to finish agonizingly short of the medal positions. CWG update on 2

For Indian sports fans, the fourth-place curse is a familiar, painful story. From Milkha Singh’s agonizing 400m in Rome 1960 and PT Usha’s split second loss in Los Angeles 1984 to Joydeep Karmakar (2012 Rifle Shooting), Dipa Karmakar (2016 Gymnastics), Abhinav Bindra (2016 Rifle and 10mitihan Air Rifle) Bopanna-Sania Mirza (2016 Mixed Doubles Tennis), Indian athletes have they have repeatedly come within touching distance of world glory, only to be denied by the narrowest of margins.

That cruel scenario was repeated in Glasgow. In para powerlifting, where the rankings are decided using a weight-adjusted coefficient system that combines the weight lifted with the athlete’s body weight, Ashok put in a valiant performance.

A PERSONAL BEST FOR ASHOK

Competing in Group A after Group B lifters set the initial benchmarks, Ashok equaled an opening lift of 195kg before breaking his personal best on his second attempt with a massive bench press of 200kg. Scoring 143.8 formula points, Ashok remained firmly in medal contention till the final rounds. However, a failed third attempt at 205kg left him stuck in fourth place, just behind Malaysia’s defending champion Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, who claimed bronze with 153.5 points.

England’s Mark Swan won gold (153.9 points) with a maximum lift of 222kg, while Roland Ezuruike of Nigeria took silver. India’s other Group A opponent Parmjeet Kumar had a tough afternoon on the bench. The 34-year-old opened with a successful lift of 176kg to secure 135.6 points. Although he was unable to advance further in his subsequent attempts, Parmjeet’s efforts were enough for a respectable seventh overall in a highly competitive field of 12 para powerlifters. A screenshot from the Commonwealth Games

WHO IS ASHOK MALIK

Hailing from Mirzapur Kheri village in Haryana’s Sonipat district, 37-year-old Ashok has built a career characterized by remarkable endurance and upper body strength. A nine-time national gold medalist in the men’s 65kg category, Ashok’s journey saw a major setback at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia where he suffered a severe arm injury that crushed both the spindle and ulna. Despite doctors initially expressing doubts about his return to competitive powerlifting, he underwent rigorous rehabilitation under national coach Jitender Pal Singh and kinesiologist Tanvir Logani to rebuild his strength and make a successful international comeback.

Since returning to the bench press, Ashok has cemented his status as one of India’s premier para powerlifters. His international resurgence gained momentum with a gold medal at the 2022 Asia-Oceania Championships in South Korea, followed by a bronze at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou. He qualified for his debut Paralympic Games with a silver at the 2024 World Championships in Egypt before achieving a career-best lift of 206 kg to place sixth at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Ashok continued his momentum with another bronze at the 2026 Asia-Oceania Championships in Bangkok and arrived at Glasgow 2026 as the anchor of the Indian Para-sports team.

HOW PARA-POWERLIFTING SCORING WORKS

In the combined Commonwealth Games para powerlifting divisions (where athletes in different bodyweight subclasses compete together), the final ranking is determined by the AH (Haleczko) coefficient formula rather than just gross weight lifted.

This system multiplies an athlete’s single heaviest valid bench press attempt (measured in kilograms) by a coefficient based on body weight to produce a standardized point score. Because lighter lifters receive a higher multiplier than heavier ones, the points formula levels the playing field – allowing a lighter lifter who clears 185kg to directly compete with a heavier lifter lifting 200kg. In the event of a tie, the medal is awarded by countdown based on lower body weight or lift progress.

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Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

24 Jul 2026 20:11 IST