It was a slow day for Indian athletes at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with Gyaneshwari Yadav becoming the second Indian woman weightlifter after the iconic Mirabai Chanu to land silver in the 49 kg class on Monday, 27 July.
A total lift of 199 kg – 88 kg in snatch and 111 kg in clean and jerk – was enough to hand the Chhattisgarh girl her moment of glory.
Nigeria’s Didih Onome Omolola claimed gold with a commanding 206 kg total (93 kg snatch +113 kg clean and jerk), while Canada’s Rebeka Groulx secured bronze with a total of 178 kg.
Gyaneshwari was consistent throughout the competition. After lifting 88 kg in the snatch, she successfully cleared 103 kg, 107 kg and 111 kg in clean and jerk – giving India another medal in the weightlifting competition. India’s medals tally thus currently stands at five – one gold, three silver and one bronze.
Born in remote Rajnandgaon in Chattisgarh, the 23-year-old Gyaneshwari is a product of the Khelo India project, having taken to her chosen sport at a young age. A series of consistent performances at junior and senior national championships established her as one of the top lifters of the country, and she now trains at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS) in Patiala.
The growth curve for the young lifter took off around two years back when Gynaeshwari finished fifth in the 2024 World Championship. This year, she hit the straps with a bronze in the Asian Championship with a combined lift of 194 kg, and followed it up with gold at the Universal Weightlifting Cup.
 Elsewhere at the CWG, there was heartbreak for Gurindervir Singh – India’s fastest man at the moment – when he finished second in his men’s 100 m heat on Monday, not enough for him to make the semi-final. While he was second behind Jamaica’s Rohan Watson in heat 4, he finished outside the automatic qualification spots with a time of 10.39 seconds.
The Indian sprinter finished 28th among 73 athletes in 11 heats – an indicator of the stiff competition the glamour event offers. A timing of 10.24 seconds was needed for qualification, but he fell short by 0.15 seconds. While 24 positions were at stake in the semi-final, only 17 were up for grabs with seven athletes having already received byes.
In the boxing ring, Tokyo 2020 medallist Lovlina Borgohain is already assured of a medal after receiving a quarter-final bye in the women’s 75 kg event, with both losing semi-finalists in boxing awarded bronze medals. However, Lovlina will be eager to convert it to gold before the medal registers on the official tally.
Later on Monday, former world youth champion boxer Sachin Siwach and Ankush also advanced to the quarter finals of the men’s 60 kg and 80 kg respectively, which put them one win away from a medal.
The 26-year-old Sachin produced a composed performance to beat England’s William Hewitt 4-1, winning four of the five judges’ scorecards. Sachin dominated the contest with consistent scoring across the three rounds.
Ankush, meanwhile, won a one-sided round-of-16 bout against Jan Zalaan of Antigua and Barbuda 5-0 in a unanimous decision by the five judges to make it to the last eight.