President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated India’s medal-winning athletes after the country produced a spectacular “Super Saturday” at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, highlighted by a historic boxing campaign and medals across athletics, para athletics and judo. As India ended the penultimate day of competition with 39 medals – 13 gold, 17 silver and nine bronze – the President and the Prime Minister praised the athletes for their determination, excellence and commitment, describing their performances as a source of national pride and inspiration.
In a series of posts on X, President Murmu congratulated all the Indian medallists, including boxers Preeti Pawar, Jaismine Lamboria, Sakshi Chaudhary, Priya Ghanghas, Arundhati Choudhary, Sachin Siwach, Ankush Panghal, Lovlina Borgohain, Jadumani Singh and Narender Berwal, along with para athletes Soman Rana and Shubham Juyal, triple jump medallists Praveen Chithravel and Selva Prabhu Thirumaran, judoka Unnati Sharma and long-distance runner Gulveer Singh.
PM Modi also lauded the athletes individually, congratulating every medallist through separate posts on X. He praised the boxers for their exceptional performances, hailed Soman Rana for winning India’s first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medal in the men’s F57 shot put, and commended the achievements of para athletes and track and field competitors. The Prime Minister described the performances as inspirational and wished the athletes continued success in their sporting careers.
India’s biggest success came in boxing, where the contingent produced its finest-ever performance at the Commonwealth Games by finishing at the top of the medal standings with seven gold and three silver medals, eclipsing the country’s previous best performance in the competition.
The gold medals came through Preeti Pawar (women’s 54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (women’s 57kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (women’s 51kg), Priya Ghanghas (women’s 60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (women’s 70kg), Sachin Siwach (men’s 60kg) and Ankush Panghal (men’s 80kg).
The three silver medals were won by Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain (women’s 75kg), Jadumani Singh (men’s 55kg) and Narender Berwal (men’s 90+kg).
Earlier in the day, Ankush Panghal sealed India’s seventh boxing gold with a 4-1 split-decision victory over England’s Dimeji Shittu in the men’s 80kg final.
Sachin Siwach produced one of the standout performances of the day, staging a remarkable comeback against Namibia’s Tryagain Morning Ndevelo in the men’s 60kg final. Trailing after the opening rounds, Sachin forced a standing count before clinching a thrilling 3-2 split-decision victory.
Arundhati Choudhary dominated England’s Chantelle Reid 5-0 to win the women’s 70kg title, while Preeti Pawar outclassed Canada’s Scarlett Savannah Delgado by a unanimous 5-0 verdict in the women’s 54kg final, even registering a knockdown during the bout.
Reigning world champion Jaismine Lamboria defeated Northern Ireland’s Michaela Walsh 5-0 to claim the women’s 57kg gold, while Sakshi Chaudhary produced another flawless display to beat England’s Ruby White 5-0 in the women’s 51kg final.
Priya Ghanghas completed India’s golden run in women’s boxing by defeating Canada’s Marie-Bathoul Al-Ahmadieh 4-1 in the women’s 60kg final.
Lovlina Borgohain narrowly missed out on gold after losing 1-4 to Australia’s Emma-Sue Greentree in the women’s 75kg final. Jadumani Singh settled for silver after going down to Australia’s Jye Dixon in the men’s 55kg final, while Narender Berwal finished runner-up in the men’s 90+kg category after losing to England’s Damar Thomas.
India also enjoyed success in para athletics, where Soman Rana created history by winning gold in the men’s F57 shot put, becoming the first Indian to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal in the event. Shubham Juyal added a silver in the same event.
Athletics contributed three more medals, with Praveen Chithravel winning silver and Selva Prabhu Thirumaran claiming bronze in the men’s triple jump to give India a historic double podium finish. Gulveer Singh added another bronze in the men’s 5,000m, becoming India’s first-ever Commonwealth Games medallist in the event after having earlier won a medal in the 10,000m.
In judo, Unnati Sharma defeated South Africa’s Skye Knoester to secure the bronze medal in the women’s -63kg category. However, Harsh Tokas narrowly missed out on a medal after losing the men’s -81kg bronze medal bout to Australia’s Keishin Ochi.
India experienced mixed fortunes in other events. Karanjit Singh Maan and Inunganbi Takhellambam exited in the judo repechage rounds, while cyclists David Beckham, Ronaldo Singh and Rojit Singh were eliminated in the men’s sprint qualification. Para athlete Ramesh Shanmugam finished seventh in the men’s T54 1,500m, Priyanka Goswami placed fourth in the women’s 10,000m race walk and Ravina Gayakwad was disqualified. In athletics, Dev Meena and Kuldeep Kumar finished outside the medals in the men’s pole vault, while the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team ended sixth.
India will head into the final day of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with 39 medals (13 gold, 17 silver and nine bronze) despite the reduced sports programme.
On Sunday, India’s hopes of adding to the tally will rest on judokas Ishroop Narang, Avtar Singh and Yash Ghanghas, while cyclists Dinesh Kumar, Harshveer Singh Sekhon, Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam and para cyclist Lisha Das will be in action in the concluding competitions of the Games.
(With agency inputs)
