Gyaneshwari Yadav marked her Commonwealth Games debut with an impressive silver medal in the women's 53kg weightlifting competition on Monday, extending India's strong run in the sport at the Games.

The 23-year-old Indian lifted a combined 199kg, the best total of her career, in a closely fought battle with Nigeria's Onome Omolola Didih. Didih eventually secured the gold medal after registering a Commonwealth Games record total of 206kg. Canada's Rebeka Groulx finished third with 178kg.

Gyaneshwari's medal was India's first of the third day of competition and took the country's overall weightlifting medal tally at the Games to four. Her achievement came a day after Mirabai Chanu won gold, while Rishikanta Singh and Tamil Nadu's Muthupandi Raja secured silver medals.

Despite competing at her first Commonwealth Games, Gyaneshwari looked comfortable under pressure and stayed within striking distance of Didih throughout the contest.

She began the snatch segment with an outstanding 88kg lift, matching her personal best and putting herself in a strong position heading into the second half of the event.

The Indian then produced the performance of the evening in the clean and jerk. After successfully completing 103kg with her opening attempt, she moved up to 107kg before taking on 111kg in her final lift.

Gyaneshwari completed the 111kg attempt successfully, adding six kilograms to her previous personal best in the discipline. Her successive successful lifts also briefly established new Commonwealth Games records, forcing Didih to respond with an even bigger final effort.

The Nigerian weightlifter ultimately answered with a 113kg clean and jerk, setting a new Games and Area record and securing the gold medal.

Gyaneshwari's silver medal represents the latest milestone in a steadily rising career. She trains at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NS NIS) in Patiala and first gained international recognition by winning silver at the 2022 IWF Junior World Championships in Greece.

She further strengthened her credentials at the 2026 Asian Senior Weightlifting Championships in Gandhinagar, where she won silver in the snatch and bronze overall after recording a 194kg total.

That result had placed her as the highest-ranked eligible Commonwealth lifter heading into the Glasgow competition.

Beyond the weightlifting platform, Gyaneshwari serves as an Assistant Sub-Inspector with the Chhattisgarh Police and has also received the state's Gundadhur Samman.

Her performance in Scotland has now added a major international achievement to her growing résumé and established her as one of India's promising weightlifting stars for the years ahead.