Commonwealth Games 2026: Raja Muthupandi wins silver in weightlifting, gives India third medal

New Delhi: Indian weightlifter Raja Muthupandi has performed brilliantly in the Commonwealth Games 2026 and won the silver medal in the men’s 65 kg event. This was the third medal of the day for India. The special thing is that after a serious injury and a long struggle, Raja has made a strong comeback by achieving this feat.

Let us tell you, 26 year old Raja lifted a total weight of 286 kg. He made a successful attempt of 126 kg in snatch and 160 kg in clean and jerk. In both the categories, he performed best in his second attempt and on this basis was successful in winning the silver medal.

Who won the gold medal?

The gold medal of this event was won by Aznil Bin Bidin Mohammed of Malaysia. He created a new Commonwealth Games record by lifting a total weight of 299 kg. With this he became Commonwealth Games champion for the third consecutive time. Even before this he had won gold medals in 2018 and 2022.

Hearty congratulations and best wishes to Raja Muthupandi ji, who made the tricolor proud on the world stage by winning the silver medal in the 65 kg weightlifting event (men) in the Commonwealth Games 2026!

This brilliant achievement of yours is a source of inspiration for crores of youth of the country. God bless you with bright and successful… pic.twitter.com/BuNfvs5cQT

— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) July 27, 2026

This success of Raja is also special because his career was going through a difficult phase after suffering a serious injury to his elbow ligament in the year 2019. Then the Covid-19 pandemic made the path of his return more difficult. After this, due to change in weight category and excellent performance of Jeremy Lalrinnunga, he was not able to make a place in the 2022 Commonwealth Games team.

never gave up

However the king did not accept defeat. After the introduction of 65 kg category, he returned to the Indian team and performed well continuously. In the 2025 World Weightlifting Championship, he made it to the top-10 by lifting a total weight of 299 kg, the best of his career. Now by winning silver in the Commonwealth Games, he has proved that comeback is always possible with hard work and patience.

Mirabai Chanu won gold

On Sunday, all three medals of India came from weightlifting. Earlier, Mirabai Chanu won the Commonwealth Games gold medal for the third consecutive time in the women’s 48 kg event, while Chanambam Rishikant Singh won the silver medal in the men’s 60 kg event. India got its first setback in boxing. Indian boxer Aditya Pratap Yadav lost to Uganda’s Nuhu Bate in a close match 3-2 in the pre-quarterfinals. This was the first defeat of the Indian boxing team in Glasgow 2026.