Powerlifters Seema Rani, Jhandu Kumar break national records

NEW DELHI, March 24: The fifth day of the Khelo India Para Games (KIPG) 2025 saw the making of two more national records both in powerlifting. Punjab’s Seema Rani registered a record lift of 97 kg in the women’s elite 61 kg category while Jhandu Kumar of Bihar lifted 206 kg in the men’s elite 72kg category.
The Paralympians ruled the roost at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Paris 2024 bronze medallist Mona Agarwal struck gold in the Mixed 50m prone SH1 with a score of 243.3.
She had already won two silvers in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH 1 and the mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2 categories.
On the penultimate day of para shooting, Rajasthan’s Nihal Singh, who had also qualified for Paris Paralympics, was dominant in the mixed 25m pistol SH1 event, retaining his gold from the first edition of the Khelo India Para Games held in December 2023.
At the time of writing, 160 medals had been decided with Haryana leading the standings with 29 golds.
Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan followed with 24 and 22 gold medals, respectively.
The powerlifters have been on song since Sunday. After two records were created by Punjab’s Jaspreet Kaur (45 kg class) and Haryana’s Manish Sharma (54 kg class), Jalandhar’s Seema, who has polio since the age of three, lived up to her billing by winning her second gold in as many Khelo India Para Games. The 39-year-old Seema started her para powerlifting journey five years ago and has since represented India in several international tournaments including the World Championships.
Seema told SAI Media, “It feels great to set up the new national record and win gold medals in back-to-back Khelo India Para Games. I thank SAI for making world-class arrangements for athletes because without them it is difficult to focus and compete well.”
Hailing from Bihar, Jhandu Kumar started his powerlifting journey in 2014. The 28-year-old para lifter has still not made his debut for India but hopes to change that soon.
“Khelo India Para Games is a great platform for para athletes. I had won silver earlier in 2023. It feels great to have converted the silver to gold now,” he said.
JASPRIT KAUR VOWS TO WIN MEDAL AT LA 2028
A thunderous ovation reverberated across the JLN Stadium weightlifting auditorium as Punjab’s Jaspreet Kaur set a new national record in powerlifting at the Khelo India Para Games 2025.
Competing in the 45kg category, the 30-year-old from Punjab lifted an incredible 101kg on Sunday, surpassing her own previous best of 100kg recorded just a week earlier at the nationals on March 16.
Jaspreet’s journey to the top is nothing short of inspirational. Once an overweight software engineer who graduated from NIT Kozhikode, her mental resilience got her to lose 40kgs as she forayed into the sporting arena.
“Doctors told me that my lower spine was getting pressed and that I needed to lose weight. That was a wake-up call. I was weighing 80kg at the time during 2020 and my job as an engineer wanted me to sit for several hours. I was scared if it would lead me to be wheelchair-bound,” she told SAI Media.
For Jaspreet, powerlifting is more than a sport—it’s a lifeline. “The game has chosen me, rather than me choosing the game. My weight loss gave me powerlifting, and powerlifting gave me confidence. Now, I want to win a medal for India in the Los Angeles Paralympics in 2028 and make headlines, just like my coach Rajinder Sir did back in 2004 Athens Paralympics, where he won the bronze in para powerlifting,” she said, eyes set on the ultimate goal.Jaspreet explained she has a tilted spine and being overweight causes the spinal points in the lumbar region to get pressed. As a result, she started getting misbalanced in the leg that was not impacted by polio. (IANS)