Commonwealth Games 2026 twist on Day 4: Mirabai leads India’s weightlifting medal spree

Olympic medalist Mirabai Chanu once again took center stage as India enjoyed a rewarding fourth day at the 2026 Commonwealth Games to clinch a historic third Commonwealth title in a row. The weightlifting icon was joined on the podium by Rishikanta Singh and Raja Muthupandi who bagged silver medals to round off a memorable outing for the Indian contingent on Sunday.

Weightlifting accounted for all of India’s medals on the day, taking the country’s total tally to four medals, one gold, two silver and one bronze, with India climbing to eighth in the rankings. There was more to cheer about in boxing, where Preeti Pawar marched into the quarter-finals and Jadumani Singh Mandengbam outclassed Pakistan’s Sumama Rehman in a hard-fought round of 16 clash. Elsewhere, however, India endured setbacks in bowling, swimming, artistic gymnastics and wheelchair basketball.

THE LIFTERS BRING ALL THE GLORY

Mirabai Chanu reasserted her dominance on the Commonwealth stage winning the third gold medal in a row for women under 48 kg. The Manipuri star rewrote the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Games record books with a total lift of 190kg, made up of 85kg in the snatch and 105kg in the pull.

Her triumph gave India its first gold medal of the Glasgow Games and the country’s third medal overall after para powerlifter Jhandu Kumar opened the campaign with a bronze in the men’s heavyweight division.

The 31-year-old showed her typical resilience after missing her opening attempts in both the snatch, clean and jerk before bouncing back to finish an impressive 22kg ahead of Nigeria’s Ruth Asuquo Nyong, who settled for silver at 168kg. With the title already a done deal and the Asian Games just a few weeks away, Mirabai skipped her latest clean and jerk attempt after already setting new Games records in both the event and the all-around.

earlier in the day Rishikanta Singh added India’s second medal by winning silver in the men’s competition under 60 kg.

The Manipuri lifter equaled the Commonwealth Games catch record of 121kg and held on to the lead heading into the clean and jerk. However, two failed lifts meant he finished with a total of 264kg, falling short of gold but making history as the first male lifter from Manipur to win a Commonwealth Games medal.

India’s impressive day on the platform continued when Raja Muthupandi secured silver in the men’s category up to 65 kg. He registered lifts of 126 kg in the catch and 160 kg in the throw, for a total of 286 kg.

Malaysia’s Muhamad Aznil Bin Bidin won gold with a Games record total of 299kg, while Papua New Guinea’s Morea Baru finished on the podium with 282kg.

PREETI, JADUMANI EDGE NEAR MEDAL

The Indian boxing team has maintained its impressive momentum Jadumani Singh Mandengbam produced one of the highlights of the day by defeating Pakistan’s Sumama Rehman 5:0 in the round of 16 for men under 55 kg.

The much awaited India-Pakistan contest lived up to expectations and there was a charged atmosphere inside the arena. Jadumani weathered an aggressive opening from his opponent before settling into his rhythm and landing cleaner punches to take control of the contest.

Once on the scorecards, the Indian boxer boxed with composure and discipline, using his movement and precision to snuff out any hopes of a comeback as he earned a unanimous verdict from all five judges.

Asian Games bronze medalist Preeti Pawar also impressed, forcing a stoppage in the second round against Malawi’s Deborah Mtenje in the 54kg round of 16.

The 22-year-old dominated from the opening bell, winning the first round by unanimous decision before forcing a stoppage twice. With Mtenje unable to cope with the relentless pressure, the referee called off the fight with 47 seconds left in the second round.

Preeti is now one win away from guaranteeing a medal at the Commonwealth Games and will face Northern Ireland’s Nicole Clyde in the quarter-finals.

DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE LAWN BOWL

It was a frustrating outing on the greens for India as both the women’s doubles team and Putul Sonowal saw their campaigns suffer setbacks.

Pinki Singh and Rupa Rani Tirkey narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot after losing a dramatic tie-break to England in their final Group B match. After both teams claimed a set each, England held their nerve in the decider to seal a 1-1 (3-4, 10-3) tie and end India’s hopes.

In the men’s singles, Putul Sonowal lost 0.5-1.5 to Malta’s Shaun James Parnis in his penultimate encounter in Group D. He remains third in the standings and will end his campaign against Kenya’s Anwar Hamada.

MOHANTY FINISHES 15TH, INDIA LOSES AGAIN IN 3X3 WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL

Tapan Mohanty ended his artistic gymnastics campaign with a respectable 15th place in the men’s all-around final after scoring 70,100 points on six apparatus.

His strongest performance came on vault, where he scored 12.700, while he also impressed on bars with 12.450. Mohanty showed consistency throughout the competition despite finishing outside the medal positions.

Meanwhile, India’s women’s 3×3 wheelchair basketball team suffered their second successive defeat in the tournament, losing 21-4 against Scotland.

ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING DAY IN SWIMMING

India’s men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team showed promise as they reached the final after finishing third in Heat 2 in 7:39.48, comfortably advancing among the top eight fastest teams.

However, the quartet of Dhakshan Shashikumar, Aneesh Sunil Kumar Gowda, Aryan Nehra and Srihari Nataraj could not repeat the feat in the medal contention. Australia, England and Wales quickly withdrew, leaving India struggling in the bottom half of the table.

The Indian quartet eventually finished sixth in 7:29.84 after strong finishes by Aryan Nehra and Srihari Nataraj.

India will now look to build on their encouraging weightlifting performances as three more medal events await, with several top contenders set to take the stage.

– The end

Published on:

27 Jul 2026 02:49 IST