Commonwealth Games 2026: Lovepreet Singh’s 176kg record lift earns silver while Neeraj Chopra enters javelin final

India produced a mixed bag of results at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday, with Lovepreet Singh delivering the standout performance by winning a record-breaking silver medal in weightlifting. While discus thrower Seema Kaliramna added a bronze to the tally, Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and two other Indian javelin throwers moved into the final.

The day also saw strong qualifying performances from triple jumpers Praveen Chithravel and Selva Prabhu, while decathlete Tejaswin Shankar finished the opening day in second position after five events. However, there were setbacks too, with shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor missing out on a medal after finishing fifth.

Lovepreet delivers career-best show

Lovepreet Singh produced the biggest moment for India in the weightlifting arena, setting a Commonwealth Games record in the snatch category before finishing with a silver medal.

The Punjab lifter lifted 176kg in snatch and followed it with 212kg in clean and jerk to register a combined total of 388kg. He finished just one kilogram behind New Zealand’s David Andrew Liti, who secured gold with 389kg.

Lovepreet entered the clean and jerk stage with a 10kg advantage but Liti overturned the deficit with a record-breaking 223kg final attempt. Lovepreet’s attempt at 217kg, which would have given him the gold, was unsuccessful.

"I thought I would win gold after snatch but it was up to God. A little disappointed that I couldn't lift in my final attempt in clean and jerk. I have lifted more in training," said Lovepreet.

The silver improved on his bronze medal from the previous Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and helped India finish its weightlifting campaign with eight medals, one gold, six silver and one bronze.

Teenager Martina Devi also put up a strong fight in the women’s +86kg category but narrowly missed a podium finish. The 18-year-old recovered after two failed snatch attempts and managed a total lift of 245kg, but finished fifth after a countback.

Seema wins discus bronze, Neeraj enters final

India added another athletics medal through Seema Kaliramna, who secured bronze in the women’s discus throw with a best effort of 58.65m.

The 27-year-old, who returned to competition after motherhood and is also pursuing a PhD, produced her medal-winning throw in the third round. Despite three fouls in her final attempts, she remained inside the medal positions.

Jamaica’s Samantha Hall won gold with 61.66m, while Canada’s Julia Tunks claimed silver with 60.67m. India’s Nidhi Rani finished fourth with 55.67m.

In the men’s javelin qualification, Neeraj Chopra, Rohit Yadav and Yashvir Singh all secured places in the final despite challenging weather conditions.

Chopra finished fifth in qualification with a throw of 79.61m, while Rohit recorded 78.37m and Yashvir managed 78.36m.

"The conditions were not the best for javelin throwers. It was not only cold but also windy... nobody was able to decode the wind," Chopra said after qualification.

Mixed results in athletics

Asian Games champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor missed out on a medal in the men’s shot put after finishing fifth with a best throw of 20.27m. Samardeep Singh Gill ended seventh with 20.03m, extending India’s wait for its first Commonwealth Games medal in the event.

Nigeria’s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi won gold with a fifth-round effort of 21.07m.

India had better news in triple jump, with national record holders Praveen Chithravel and Selva Prabhu advancing to the final after finishing second and third in qualification with jumps of 16.41m and 16.26m respectively.

Tejaswin Shankar also remained in medal contention in the decathlon. He ended the opening day in second place with 4,339 points, just 14 points behind Canada’s Damian Warner.

Shankar’s strongest performances came in the high jump, where he cleared 2.15m, and the long jump, where he recorded 7.82m.

However, sprinters Animesh Kujur and Vishal TK failed to progress to their respective finals. Kujur finished sixth in the 200m semifinal with a time of 20.65 seconds, while Vishal placed sixth in the 400m semifinal after clocking 46.33 seconds.

India’s men’s lawn bowls pair continued its unbeaten run, adding another positive result to an otherwise eventful day.

(With inputs from PTI)