11th-Hour Wushu Call-Up Ends in Silver: Roshibina Devi Shines at Asian Games

From 11th-Hour Call-Up to Asian Games Silver: Roshibina Devi Makes History

India’s Roshibina Devi capped a dramatic Asian Games campaign with a silver medal in the women’s 60kg Sanda event on Thursday, September 24. Called into the Indian team at the 11th hour, Roshibina was beaten 0-2 by China’s Zhang Xiaoyu in the final. Zhang dominated both rounds, winning each 5-0, to take the gold.

The defeat meant another silver for Roshibina, who had also finished runner-up at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. But her latest medal carried an added significance: she has now stood on the podium at three consecutive editions of the Asian Games.

Roshibina won bronze in Jakarta in 2018, silver in Hangzhou in 2023 and silver again in Aichi-Nagoya in 2026. She is the first Indian wushu athlete to achieve the feat.

Who Is Roshibina Devi?

Born on December 30, 2000, in Manipur’s Bishnupur district, Roshibina Devi is an established name in Indian wushu.

She competes in Sanda, the combat form of wushu that combines punches, kicks and throws.

Roshibina took up the sport after watching a district-level competition in Manipur as a child. She initially experimented with boxing but eventually chose wushu and began training under local coaches.

She later joined the Sports Authority of India’s Imphal centre, where she trained under coach Maibam Premkumar Singh.

Her first major international medal came at the 2016 Junior World Wushu Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria, where she won bronze in the 48kg category.

She moved to 60kg the following year and won gold at the Asian Junior Wushu Championships in Gumi, South Korea.

The Asian Games Journey

Roshibina made her Asian Games debut in Jakarta in 2018 at just 17.

After beating Pakistan’s Mubashra Akhtar in the quarter-finals, she lost to China’s Cai Yingying in the semi-finals and took bronze.

She won gold at the 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu before making another deep run at the 2023 Asian Games.

In Hangzhou, Roshibina reached the 60kg Sanda final and won silver after losing to China’s Wu Xiaowei.

That year also brought silver at the World Wushu Championships in Texas and gold at the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship. Her performances earned her the Arjuna Award for 2023, while the International Wushu Federation named her Female Sanda Athlete of the Year.

Why Was She Called Up at the Last Minute?

Roshibina’s place in India’s 2026 Asian Games squad was initially in doubt.

She lost the selection trial to teammate Divyanshi Choudhary and was left out of the original team.

Her opportunity returned after Divyanshi was withdrawn following medical examinations. The Wushu Association of India said she had suffered a partial high-grade ACL tear with significant effusion.

Roshibina was then brought into the squad as her replacement.

The selection change became controversial after Divyanshi accused Roshibina of harassment and bullying at the national camp in Patiala and alleged that she had deliberately attempted to injure her shoulder during training.

Divyanshi subsequently posted a video threatening to take her own life, saying she had not been informed about her replacement.

She later apologised for the video and accepted the decision to remove her from the squad, while the Wushu Association rejected the allegations against Roshibina and said the replacement was made on medical grounds.

How Roshibina Reached the Final

Once in Aichi-Nagoya, Roshibina put the controversy aside and concentrated on her competition.

She defeated Bangladesh’s Shika Khatun in the pre-quarterfinals before beating Macao’s Chu Man Sin 5-0 in the quarter-finals.

That win guaranteed her a medal and made her the first Indian wushu athlete to win medals at three consecutive Asian Games.

In the semi-final, Roshibina beat Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 to book her place in the gold-medal bout.

But Zhang Xiaoyu proved too strong in the final.

The Chinese fighter had already defeated Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, the 2023 world champion, on her way to the final. Against Roshibina, Zhang maintained complete control and won both rounds 5-0.

Roshibina therefore finishes the 2026 Asian Games with another silver — her third consecutive medal at the continental Games.