Roshibina Devi Wins Silver, Makes Asian Games History With Third Medal

Indian wushu player Roshibina Devi Naorem created history at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya on Thursday, winning a silver medal in the women’s 60kg Sanda category. The medal is her third consecutive Asian Games medal, making her the first Indian wushu athlete to achieve the feat.

Roshibina, who is now 25, had won bronze at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and followed it with a silver at the 2022 Hangzhou Games. She has now secured another silver in the same 60kg Sanda category.

Her journey to the Nagoya Games was far from straightforward. Roshibina had suffered a knee injury and lost to Divyanshi Choudhary during the selection trials. She was initially left out of India’s seven-member wushu squad.

However, Divyanshi later suffered a serious ACL injury, after which the Wushu Association of India selected Roshibina as her replacement. The decision led to a dispute, with Divyanshi publicly questioning the selection process and making allegations against Roshibina. The Wushu Association of India rejected those allegations and said the change was made on medical grounds.

The Sports Ministry subsequently approved Roshibina’s inclusion as an injury replacement.

Once in Nagoya, Roshibina delivered a strong performance. She defeated Macao’s Chu Man Sin 5-0 in the quarterfinal to secure at least a bronze medal. She then beat Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 in the semifinal to reach the gold-medal bout.

In the final, however, she lost 0-2 to China’s Zhang Xiaoyu and finished with the silver medal.

The result adds another medal to India’s wushu record at the Asian Games. According to the available figures, India’s wushu tally has now reached 11 medals, including one gold, two silver and eight bronze.

Wushu has two main disciplines at the Asian Games: Taolu, which focuses on choreographed movements and technical execution, and Sanda, a combat discipline.

Roshibina’s silver was also India’s 14th medal of the 2026 Asian Games and the second Indian medal on Day 6, following the bronze won by Satnam Singh and Salman Khan in the men’s doubles sculls.