Asian Games wushu: Roshibina justifies last-minute selection call with historic silver

Tridib Baparnash

New Delhi, Sep 24 (UNI) Years ago, when Naorem Roshibina Devi was just beginning her journey in wushu, her farmer father Naorem Damu Singh was not convinced that his daughter should take up a combat sport.

But he soon saw how determined she was. For a family of modest means from Kwasiphai Mayai Leikai in Manipur's Bishnupur district, supporting that dream came with its share of sacrifices, including selling a piece of land to fund her training and travel. On Thursday, those sacrifices came full circle as the 25-year-old Roshibina, the second of three siblings in the family, stood on the Asian Games podium for the third successive edition.

The 25-year-old won silver in the women's 60kg sanda event at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, losing 0-2 to China's Zhang Xiaoyu in the final at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall. The result made Roshibina the first Indian to win a medal in wushu at three consecutive Asian Games. She had won bronze at Jakarta in 2018 before upgrading to silver at Hangzhou in 2023. In Aichi-Nagoya, she matched her previous finish, but added another milestone to a career that has already taken her a long way from a nondescript Kwasiphai Mayai Leikai.

The silver may have left her wanting more, but the achievement was significant given the uncertainty that surrounded her participation in these Games. Roshibina was a late inclusion in the Indian squad after original choice Divyanshi Choudhary withdrew with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. She had lost to Divyanshi in the selection trials in Srinagar in June and only learnt around September 10 that she would be travelling to Japan. Despite the limited preparation, Roshibina began her campaign with a points-difference win over Bangladesh's Shika Khatun in the Round of 16.

She followed it with another points-difference victory over Macau's Chu Man Sin in the quarterfinals before defeating Indonesia's Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 in the semifinals to assure herself of a medal. China's Zhang proved too strong in the final, but Roshibina had already secured her place in Asian Games history. Her silver at Hangzhou had made her only the second Indian to win an Asian Games silver in wushu after Wangkhem Sandhyarani Devi, who finished runner-up in the women's 60kg sanda event at Guangzhou 2010.

Roshibina's latest medal was also India's only wushu podium finish at the 2026 Games. India's seven-member wushu contingent concluded its campaign without any other medal. In sanda, Aryan was knocked out in the men's 56kg quarterfinals, while Aparna in the women's 52kg and Vikrant Baliyan in the men's 75kg were eliminated in the Round of 16. The taolu contingent also missed out on the podium. Mayanglambam Suraj Singh, competing at his third Asian Games, finished 11th in the men's Changquan after placing 10th at Jakarta 2018 and fifth at Hangzhou 2023.

Nyeman Wangsu finished 15th in the women's Changquan, while Hanjabam Langlentombi Devi was ninth in the women's Nanquan and Nandao combined event with a score of 18.839. Wushu, which originated from traditional Chinese martial arts, made its Asian Games debut at Beijing 1990. It is broadly divided into taolu, featuring judged routines, and sanda, the full-contact discipline involving punches, kicks and throws.

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