Roshibina Devi bags silver, completes hat-trick of Asian Games medals

Aichi-Nagoya, Sep 24 (UNI) India's Roshibina Devi Naorem settled for a silver medal in the women's sanda 60kg wushu event after going down 0-2 to China's Zhang Xiaoyu in the final of the Asian Games here on Thursday.

Zhang produced a dominant performance in the title bout, taking both rounds 5-0 to claim the gold, while Roshibina had to be content with her second successive silver at the continental showpiece. The medal completed a remarkable hat-trick for the 25-year-old Manipuri, who had won bronze at the Jakarta 2018 Asian Games and silver at Hangzhou 2023, all in the 60kg sanda category.

Roshibina had entered the final after an impressive run through the competition. She defeated Bangladesh's Shika Khatun in the pre-quarterfinals before overcoming Macau's Chu Man Sin 5-0 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal, she defeated Indonesia's Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 to book her place in the gold-medal bout and secure her third successive Asian Games podium finish. Roshibina had been seeking to go one better than her silver medal at Hangzhou, where she also lost to a Chinese opponent in the final.

The latest defeat means China once again stood between Roshibina and an Asian Games gold in the 60kg category. The silver also took India's wushu medal tally at the Asian Games to 11, comprising one gold, two silver and eight bronze medals. For Roshibina, the Aichi-Nagoya campaign ended with another podium finish, extending her remarkable run of medals across three successive editions of the Asian Games.

UNI BDN