CWG 2026: Sharmila shines with gold as India bag six medals on Day 5 in Glasgow

GLASGOW: India enjoyed its best day so far at the Commonwealth Games 2026, winning six medals on Day 5, led by Sharmila Dhankar’s historic gold in the women’s shot put F57, while Gyaneshwari Yadav, Sarvesh Kushare and Valluri Ajaya Babu claimed silver medals, and Bindyarani Devi and Shilpa K. Shyla added bronze as the country’s medal tally reached 10.

The standout moment of the day came in para athletics, where Sharmila Dhankar produced a season-best throw of 9.81 metres to clinch gold in the women’s shot put F57 event, becoming India’s first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medallist in para athletics, according to ESPN.

The celebrations doubled for India after Shilpa K. Shyla was upgraded from fourth place to bronze following the disqualification of Nigeria’s Eucharia Iyiazi, giving India its first double podium finish of the Glasgow Games. Ghana’s Zinabu Issah claimed silver with a best effort of 8.65m.

Indian athletics added another medal through national record holder Sarvesh Kushare, who scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win a silver medal in the men’s high jump at the Commonwealth Games.

Kushare cleared 2.25m before narrowly missing out on gold on countback to Jamaica’s Romaine Beckford, who also cleared the same height but enjoyed a cleaner series. England’s Kimani Jack settled for bronze with 2.20m.

Weightlifting once again proved India’s strongest discipline, delivering three more medals to take the country’s tally in the sport to six.

Team India is ready for another exciting day of action at the Commonwealth Games. Catch the complete schedule of Indian athletes competing across various disciplines on 28–29 July.

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Gyaneshwari Yadav opened India’s account for the day by winning silver in the women’s 53kg category on her Commonwealth Games debut. The 23-year-old, who moved up from the 49kg division to accommodate Olympic champion Mirabai Chanu, lifted a personal-best total of 199kg (88kg in snatch and 111kg in clean and jerk). She completed all six of her attempts successfully and briefly held the Commonwealth Games clean and jerk record before Nigeria’s Onome Omolola Didih surpassed it en route to gold with a Games-record total of 206kg.

Later, Bindyarani Devi claimed bronze in the women’s 58kg category to secure her second successive Commonwealth Games medal after winning silver in Birmingham four years ago. The Manipuri lifter totalled 199kg (87kg in snatch and 112kg in clean and jerk), while Nigeria’s Rafiatu Folashade Lawal defended her title with a Games-record total of 229kg and Canada’s Ann Sophie Taschereau won silver with 215kg.

In the final weightlifting event of the day, 22-year-old Valluri Ajaya Babu narrowly missed out on gold in the men’s 79kg competition. The Andhra Pradesh lifter set a Commonwealth Games record of 149kg in the snatch before finishing with a total of 330kg (149kg+181kg). Malaysia’s Muhammad Erry Hidayat snatched gold with 331kg after a Games-record clean and jerk of 184kg, while Scotland’s Chris Murray took bronze with 325kg.

India also registered encouraging performances across other disciplines. Long-jumper Murali Sreeshankar comfortably qualified for the men’s long jump final with an effort of 8.01m, while Lokesh Satyanathan also progressed with a jump of 7.77m.

Tejas Shirse reached the men’s 110m hurdles final after clocking 13.76 seconds in the heats, though he later finished last in the final. Gurindervir Singh’s campaign ended in the men’s 100m heats after he clocked 10.39 seconds, finishing 28th overall.

In swimming, Olympian Sajan Prakash advanced to the men’s 200m butterfly final with a time of 1:59.58 before finishing eighth in the medal race. Aryan Nehra placed seventh in the men’s 800m freestyle final.

Para swimmer Swatik Patil qualified for the men’s 100m breaststroke SB9 final with the sixth-fastest time in the heats before finishing fifth in the final.

India’s boxers continued their strong run, with Sachin Siwach defeating England’s William Hewitt 4-1 in the men’s 60kg round of 16, Ankush registering a dominant 5-0 victory over Antigua and Barbuda’s Zalaan Jan in the men’s 80kg division, and Sakshi Choudhary beating Botswana’s Lethabo Modukanele 5-0 in the women’s 51kg category.

Sumit Kundu, however, bowed out after losing to Northern Ireland’s Jon McConnell in the men’s 70kg round of 16. Elsewhere, Protistha Samanta finished seventh in the women’s vault final in artistic gymnastics, while Putul Sonowal suffered a defeat against Kenya’s Anwar Hamada in the men’s singles sectional play in bowls.

At the end of Day 5, India had won 10 medals — two gold, five silver and three bronze. India’s medallists so far are Mirabai Chanu (gold, weightlifting), Sharmila Dhankar (gold, women’s shot put F57), Rishikanta Singh (silver, weightlifting), Muthupandi Raja (silver, weightlifting), Gyaneshwari Yadav (silver, weightlifting), Sarvesh Kushare (silver, men’s high jump), Valluri Ajaya Babu (silver, weightlifting), Bindyarani Devi (bronze, weightlifting), Shilpa K. Shyla (bronze, women’s shot put F57) and Jhandu Kumar (bronze, para powerlifting). (ANI)