Asian Games 2026: India's full weightlifting contingent
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Rishikanta Singh Chanambam ruled out due to a knee injury
India’s weightlifting team for the Asian Games 2026 has had to be reshuffled just over a week before the event, with Commonwealth Games silver medallist Rishikanta Singh Chanambam ruled out due to a knee injury.
He had originally been named as India’s only male representative for the Games, which run in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4.
Rishikanta had been dealing with discomfort in his left knee since the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last month, and doctors have since found a muscle imbalance on his left side.
The 21-year-old is now focused fully on recovery and had to give up his spot at the continental event. In Glasgow, he had lifted a total of 264kg and matched gold medallist Bin Kasdan Mohamad Aniq of Malaysia with a 121kg snatch, but fell short in the clean and jerk, managing 143kg against the Malaysian’s Games record of 152kg.
With his withdrawal, India’s weightlifting squad for the Asian Games now consists of just four members, and all of them are women.
Mirabai Chanu leads India’s revised four-member squad
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Saikhom Mirabai Chanu leads the group and heads into these Games still chasing the one major medal missing from her career.
The Olympic medallist and former world champion has never won an Asian Games medal, coming closest at Hangzhou 2023 where she finished fourth in the women’s 49kg category. She arrives on the back of her third straight Commonwealth Games gold and fourth Commonwealth medal overall, won in Glasgow last month.
She is joined by Gyaneshwari Yadav, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist competing in the women’s 53kg category, and Harjinder Kaur, also a Commonwealth silver medallist, in the 69kg division. Seram Nirupama Devi completes the squad in the women’s 61kg category.
The weightlifting event at the Asian Games will run from September 22 to 28 at the Tokai Citizens Gymnasium.
India’s overall record in this sport at the Games has been fairly modest, with 14 total medals won across previous editions, five silver and nine bronze, and no gold so far. At the last edition in Hangzhou, India had sent only two lifters, Mirabai and Bindyarani Devi, and neither reached the podium, with Mirabai finishing fourth and Bindyarani fifth in the 55kg category.
Why is Rishikanta Singh Chanambam not part of India’s Asian Games 2026 weightlifting squad?
He was ruled out due to a knee injury caused by a muscle imbalance on his left side that had been troubling him since the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Who are the members of India’s weightlifting squad for the Asian Games 2026?
The squad now includes four women: Mirabai Chanu (49kg), Gyaneshwari Yadav (53kg), Seram Nirupama Devi (61kg), and Harjinder Kaur (69kg).
Has India ever won a gold medal in weightlifting at the Asian Games?
No, India has never won gold in weightlifting at the Asian Games. The country’s overall tally stands at 14 medals, made up of five silver and nine bronze.
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