India missed out on a medal in the first championship event of the 2026 Commonwealth Games as Ashok Kumar Malik finished fourth and Parmjeet Kumar placed seventh in the men’s lightweight para powerlifting competition on Friday.Ashok came closest to a podium finish but narrowly missed out despite producing two successful lifts.The competition featured athletes from multiple body-weight categories in a combined medal event. In such events, final rankings are decided using a coefficient formula that calculates points based on an athlete’s body weight and their best successful lift.Parmjeet opened with a successful lift of 176kg, receiving two green lights and one red from the judges. He then attempted 179kg but failed to complete the lift.Ashok started strongly with a successful lift of 195kg, the heaviest opening lift in the field.In the second round, Parmjeet again went for 179kg but could not complete the attempt.Ashok then successfully lifted 200kg. The effort earned him 143.8 points and kept him in contention for a medal.Parmjeet made one final attempt at 179kg. Although he completed the lift, the judges ruled it invalid, awarding him three red lights.Ashok chose 205kg for his final attempt, which would have been the heaviest successful lift of his career. Even with a successful lift, however, he would have remained fourth because of the coefficient scoring system. He was unable to complete the attempt and finished fourth with 143.8 points.Parmjeet finished seventh with 135.6 points.England’s Mark Swan won the gold medal with a score of 153.902.Nigeria’s Roland Ezuruike claimed silver with 153.874 points, while Malaysia’s Bonnie Bunyau Gustin took bronze with 153.5 points.
