Valluri Ajaya Babu Wins Silver in Men's 79kg Weightlifting at CWG 2026

Valluri Ajaya Babu won silver in the men's 79kg weightlifting final at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow. The 22-year-old lifted a total of 330kg, made up of a 149kg snatch and 181kg clean and jerk.

He missed out on gold by just 1kg. Malaysia's Muhammad Erry Hidayat took the top spot with a 331kg total, including a Games-record 184kg clean and jerk. Scotland's Chris Murray claimed bronze with 325kg.

Ajaya set his own Commonwealth Games record in the snatch with his 149kg lift, which put him in the lead heading into the clean and jerk. Hidayat then produced a clutch final attempt to snatch gold away in the closing stages.

The lifter hails from Kondavelagada village in Andhra Pradesh. His father won bronze in weightlifting at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and Ajaya has now gone one better with silver in Glasgow. He arrived at these Games as the reigning champion from the 2025 Commonwealth Championships in Ahmedabad, where he lifted 335kg to qualify.

The result was India's sixth weightlifting medal of the Glasgow Games, following golds and silvers from Mirabai Chanu, Rishikanta Singh, Muthupandi Raja, and Gyaneshwari Yadav.