Paramjeet Kumar became the first Indian para-powerlifter to clinch a medal in the World Para Powerlifting Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia on Sunday.
Paramjeet, competing in the 49kg category, lifted 158 kg to grab the Bronze medal while Omar Shami Qarada of Egypt won the gold medal after lifting 174kg. Viatnam's Van Cong Le won the silver medal with a total of 170kg.
"History created for India in Para @Powerlifting by Paramjit Kumar of Punjab as he wins #bronze at the ongoing World Para Powerlifting Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia. Paramjit's 158KG Lift has created history! Cheer for @ParalympicIndia team as the championship continues!" President of the Paralympic Committee of India, Deepa Malik tweeted.
"Parmjeet Kumar wins 1st medal (BRONZE) in the men's up to 49kg category at the ongoing World Para-Powerlifting C'ships 2021 Parmjeet's medal-winning lift was 158kg He is a #KheloIndia Athlete training at @SAI_Gandhinagar Many congratulations," SAI Media tweeted.
Parmjeet has earlier won a bronze medal in the 49kg category at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia. He is a resident of Haripur Khalsa village, 22 km from Ludhiana, Punjab.
A ten-member Indian Para-powerlifting squad including, Manreet Singh (41 kg, Punjab), Sakina Khatun (45 kg Karnataka), Raj Kumari (55 kg, Delhi), Geeta (67kg, Haryana), and Bhawana Sharma (86 kg, Rajasthan) are competing in'the women's category while Parmjit Kumar (49 kg, Punjab), Ashok (65 kg, Haryana), Jai Deep (73 kg, Haryana), Sudhir (88 kg, Haryana,) and Sachin Chaudhary (107 kg Uttar Pradesh) are participat'ng in men's category.