Roshibina takes silver in women's 60kg wushu final at Asian Games in Nagoya
Naorem Roshibina Devi lost to Zhang Xiaoyu 0-2 in the women's 60kg wushu final at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on September 24, 2026, and settled for the silver medal.
The 25-year-old, a late addition to India’s squad, fought the final at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall and won her third successive Asian Games medal after a silver in the last edition and a bronze in 2018. All five judges returned unanimous 5-0 decisions for Zhang in both of the two-minute rounds.
Zhang dominated the opening round with the five judges scoring it 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 and 8-2 in her favour, and extended that margin in the second round where the judges awarded 10-2, 8-3, 7-3, 7-3 and 6-1. The bout result was recorded as a 0-2 defeat for Roshibina.
The Indian remained subdued for much of the contest and, according to the report, could not counter Zhang’s aggression and technical superiority, notably the Chinese fighter’s side kicks. Roshibina had tried to defend and attempted throws, but the report says Zhang executed the better attacks.
After the final Roshibina said, "I have won silver earlier and this time also, I could win only silver. I could not give the gold medal to the Indian people. I could not give what everyone wanted."
Roshibina explained her preparation was disrupted: "I came to know of my inclusion in the team around September 10 and straightway came here from home (from Manipur) without training much." She had been a late replacement after Divyanshi Choudhary withdrew with an anterior cruciate ligament injury; Divyanshi had beaten Roshibina in the June trials in Srinagar and later accused Roshibina of mental harassment.
Coach Amit Pal pointed to the lack of preparation, saying, "The Chinese fighter was very good, something lacking (in Roshibina). But also, Roshibina did not get much time to prepare. She was out of the national camp for one and half months. After trials in June in Srinagar, she left for her home since she lost. After Divyanshi's ACL injury, Roshibina was named in the team on September 10. She had little training (in between) and straightaway came here."
Roshibina's medal provided the only podium return for India’s wushu contingent after other sanda athletes failed to reach the medals: Aryan (Men's 56kg) lost in the quarterfinals, Aparna (Women's 52kg) was eliminated in the round of 16, and Vikrant Baliyan (Men's 75kg) lost his opening bout. In taolu, Langlentombi Devi Hanjabam scored a combined 18.839 across women's Nanquan and Nandao to finish ninth, Nyeman Wangsu posted 9.573 to place 15th in women's Changquan, and Suraj Singh Mayanglambam finished 11th in the men's Changquan final.
Reflecting on the experience and future competitions, Roshibina said, "There was a lot of disturbance when I came here for the Asian Games. I did not get much time to prepare. But, my coach (Amit Pal) supported me a lot to reach here. I will try my best in the upcoming Games, learn from my mistakes and come back."