Boxing's best-ever Commonwealth campaign and judo's first-ever gold medals widened India's medal base ahead of Ahmedabad 2030
India closed out the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games in fourth place with 39 medals, but the story of the campaign was less about the final tally and more about where those medals came from, according to a Tribune India analysis published on 3 August 2026. With wrestling, shooting, badminton and hockey missing from a slimmed-down 10-sport programme, India's boxers and judokas stepped in to fill the gap.
The Tribune report described boxing and judo as the twin engines of India's Glasgow campaign, with judo in particular moving from what it called a 'fringe medal sport' to a genuine contributor for the first time in Commonwealth Games history.
India's boxers won seven gold medals and three silvers from the ten finals contested, topping the boxing medal table at Glasgow 2026, according to World Boxing's report on the competition. Five of the seven golds came from the women's squad, with Sakshi Chaudhary (51kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg), Priya Ghanghas (60kg) and Arundhati Choudhary (70kg) all winning their finals.
Sachin Siwach and Ankush Panghal delivered the men's golds, in the 60kg and 80kg categories respectively. Siwach, unbeaten through the tournament and ranked world No. 5 coming into the Games, beat Namibia's Tryagain Morning Ndevelo on a 3-2 split decision and told Sunday Guardian Live afterwards, 'It feels great... We had high hopes of winning gold. We were confident all along,' adding that he expected the team to 'win even more medals at the upcoming Asian Games.'
The Tribune's analysis called it the Indian boxers' 'best-ever Commonwealth Games campaign,' while noting the depth of competition was thinner than usual with several European and Central Asian boxing nations absent from Glasgow.
Lamboria's 57kg gold followed her World Boxing Championship title from Liverpool in September 2025, according to India.com's report on the final.
Sakshi Chaudhary, Preeti Pawar, Jaismine Lamboria, Priya Ghanghas and Arundhati Choudhary swept their weight categories, per World Boxing's medal breakdown.
Lovlina Borgohain added a silver in the 75kg middleweight category, contributing to boxing's ten-medal overall haul, World Boxing reported.
India won its first two Commonwealth Games judo gold medals on the same day at Glasgow, according to Olympics.com's report on the competition. Asmita Dey won the women's 48kg final against Canada's Heidi Quach, and Harsh Singh followed shortly after with gold in the men's 60kg category, beating Australia's Joshua Katz.
The wins lifted India's judo medal tally to four for the Games, according to ANI's coverage of Harsh Singh's win. Tribune India's campaign analysis noted the results marked India's best-ever Commonwealth Games showing in the sport.
Beat Canada's Heidi Quach in the final to become one of India's first two Commonwealth judo champions, per Olympics.com.
Defeated Australia's Joshua Katz for gold, completing what ANI described as India's 'historic golden double' in judo on the day.
India's athletics squad added three individual milestones on the closing days of competition. Gulveer Singh became the first Indian to win two individual medals in athletics at a single Commonwealth Games, taking silver in the 10,000m in 27:49.78 and bronze in the 5000m in 13:24.95, according to Outlook India's report on his campaign.
Tejaswin Shankar won bronze in the decathlon with a total of 7,976 points, India's first-ever Commonwealth Games medal in the event, finishing behind Paris 2024 bronze medallist Lindon Victor and Tokyo 2020 champion Damian Warner. It was Shankar's second individual athletics medal across Commonwealth Games editions, having also won high jump bronze in 2022.
Neeraj Chopra won silver in the javelin throw with a best effort of 85.83m, behind Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, in what Olympics.com reported was only his second competition of the year as he returns from a lower-back injury that has affected him since September 2025. Chopra said afterwards that his comeback was 'heading in the right direction' but that he was still some way from his best form.
First Indian to win two individual athletics medals at one Commonwealth Games: 10,000m silver and 5000m bronze.
India's first-ever Commonwealth Games decathlon medal, with 7,976 points.
85.83m javelin throw in only his second competition since a lower-back injury sidelined him from September 2025.
Boxing is already one of the eight sports confirmed for the Ahmedabad 2030 programme, alongside athletics, swimming, table tennis, bowls, weightlifting, artistic gymnastics and netball, according to Team England's explainer on the Amdavad 2030 Games. Judo is among 16 disciplines still being evaluated for the remaining programme slots, which Commonwealth Sport and the host organisers are due to finalise, per the same report.
Tribune India's analysis framed the wider spread of medal-winning sports as India's 'biggest positive' from Glasgow, arguing that a broader base beyond established strengths puts the country in a stronger position as it prepares to host the centenary Games in 2030.
Seven golds and three silvers from ten finals, India's best-ever Commonwealth Games boxing campaign, according to World Boxing.
Asmita Dey (women's 48kg) and Harsh Singh (men's 60kg) both won gold on the same day at Glasgow 2026.
He became the first Indian to win two individual athletics medals at a single Commonwealth Games, with 10,000m silver and 5000m bronze.
Yes, his bronze with 7,976 points was India's first-ever Commonwealth Games decathlon medal.
Not yet. Judo is among the disciplines still under consideration for the remaining programme slots, while boxing is already confirmed.