Who is Sudhir?

Indian athlete Sudhir won the gold medal in the men’s heavyweight para powerlifting event at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday.

Sudhir, an Asian Para Games bronze medallist, lifted 208kg in his first attempt. He then increased it to 212kg in his second effort to gather 134.5 points and break the Games record. In the third and last attempt, he failed to lift 217kg.

The 27-year-old has an impairment due to the effects of polio. 

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Sudhir defeated Ikechukwu Christian Obichukwu, who won the silver with 133.6 points, and Micky Yule bagged the bronze with 130.9 points.

Sudhir had won a bronze in men’s upto 88kg with a best lift of 214kg at the World Para Powerlifting Asia-Oceania Open Championship in South Korea in June.

Sudhir started powerlifting in 2013 in Sonipat. He has also qualified for Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games, which was postponed to next year.

Earlier Thursday, Indian Para-Powerlifters failed to win a medal. Manpreet Kaur started with a successful lift of 87kg, scoring 88.6 points in her first attempt. In the second attempt, she lifted 88kg, scoring 89.6 points. In the last attempt, she failed to lift 90kg.

Para-Powerlifter Sakina Khatun failed to lift 90kg in her first attempt. She successfully lifted 90kg in her second attempt, scoring 87.5 points. India’s Manpreet Kaur and Sakina Khatun finished 4th and 5th respectively.

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On Day 7 of the CWG 2022, India’s Sudhir won Para Powerlifting Men’s Heavyweight Gold with a games record mark of 134.5 points.

The 23-year-old from Palakkad, Kerala thus becomes the first male Indian athlete to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the long jump.

Meanwhile, the Indian Men’s Hockey team made its way to the semi-finals.