India opened its Commonwealth Games 2026 campaign in Glasgow on July 24 with a mix of an early medal, a landmark upset, and some tough setbacks off the field.
The headline moment came from para powerlifter Jhandu Kumar, who won India’s first medal of the Games with a bronze in the men’s heavyweight category, lifting a best of 190kg for a total of 130.9 points. Nigeria’s Riluwan Idris took gold, while England’s Matthew Harding won silver. Defending champion Sudhir of India finished sixth. Jhandu’s medal was made even more remarkable by his personal story of overcoming poverty to reach the podium.
In lawn bowls, India enjoyed a near-perfect start. Reigning Asian champion Putul Sonowal, competing at his first Commonwealth Games at the age of 43, pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the opening day by beating reigning world champion Ryan Bester of Canada in a tie-break. In the women’s pairs, the experienced duo of Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh began their campaign with a win over Malta.
Boxing also got off to a promising start, with Jadumani Singh recording a dominant win to advance in the men’s 55kg category. In the pool, Olympian Srihari Nataraj reached the semifinals of the men’s 50m backstroke, though he narrowly missed out on a place in the final. Para swimmer Karthik Budigina finished fourth in the men’s S13 100m freestyle final, just outside the podium.
The day was not without setbacks. India’s judo campaign suffered a serious blow before competition had even begun, with Birmingham 2022 silver medallist Tulika Maan withdrawn after a provisional suspension over anti-doping whereabouts failures, and fellow judoka Arun Kumar also suspended following an alleged doping violation. Both developments significantly dented India’s medal hopes in judo for these Games.
By the end of the day, boxer Lovlina Borgohain had also been confirmed for at least a bronze medal after receiving a direct bye into the semifinals of the women’s 75kg category, a quirk of the Commonwealth Games boxing format where every losing semifinalist is awarded bronze.
Overall, Day 1 gave India a solid, if modest, start: one confirmed medal on the board, a guaranteed second medal in the pipeline through Lovlina, and a memorable early upset in lawn bowls to set the tone. With the marquee athletics and weightlifting programmes still to begin, India’s contingent headed into Day 2 aiming to build on this foundation in Glasgow.