Coach kundan pandey

National Para Powerlifting Championships: For years, people in his village did not call him by the name his parents had given him. They called him "Jhandu" – a nickname born out of tragedy, poverty and ridicule.

Today, that same name echoes across international arenas after 29-year-old para powerlifter Jhandu Kumar from Harnaut village in Bihar's Nalanda district won India's first medal at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, completing a journey that took him from selling vegetables and driving an e-rickshaw to standing on an international podium.

Jhandu claimed the bronze medal with a best successful lift of 190kg, finishing with 130.9 points. He opened the competition with a successful 181kg lift, earning 124.7 points, before improving to 190kg on his second attempt to move provisionally to the top of the leaderboard.