Indian wushu star Roshibina Devi added another medal to the country’s tally as she won a silver medal in the women’s 60kg sanda event of the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya on Thursday.
lost to China’s Zhang Xiaoyu with a 2-0 margin in the summit clash at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall.
The silver was Devi’s third consecutive medal, following a bronze at Jakarta-Palembang 2018 and a silver at Hangzhou 2023.
Roshibina Devi was born on 30 December, 2000, in Kwasiphai Mayai Leikai in Manipur’s Bishnupur district. She competes in sanda, the combat discipline of wushu that incorporates striking and throwing techniques.
She comes from a farming family in Manipur. Her father, Naorem Damu, is a farmer. Her mother, Naorem Romila, assists with agricultural work. Devi has two siblings, an elder sister and a younger brother. She began her wushu journey in 2012 after joining a Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre, where she trained under coach Premkumar.
Devi had earlier tried boxing, but developed an interest in wushu after watching the sport at a district-level competition. Her early progress included a bronze medal in the 48kg category at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria.
Devi made her Asian Games debut at the Jakarta-Palembang Games 2018. Competing in the women’s 60kg sanda category, she defeated Pakistan’s Mubashra Akhtar in the quarterfinals to secure a medal. Her campaign ended in the semifinals against China’s Cai Yingying, earning her a bronze medal.
She followed that with gold in the 60kg category at the 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu-Pokhara. In 2023, Devi reached the women’s 60kg sanda final at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where she won silver after losing to China’s Wu Xiaowei.
Her achievements in 2023 also included a silver medal at the World Wushu Championships in Texas and gold at the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship. Those results were part of the record cited when she received the 2023 Arjuna Award.
Devi entered the 2026 Asian Games after being added to India’s squad following an injury to the originally selected athlete, Divyanshi Choudhary.
However, her selection for the Asian Games 2026 caused controversy. Choudhary alleged Roshibina of mental harassment at a wushu camp in Patiala, claiming that the latter attempted to injure her shoulder on purpose.
“Roshibina has harassed me and my family mentally and physically. I can’t believe an athlete can stoop to this level, she has done from June to now, she has been constantly harassing me and my family,” Choudhary said in a video message that was posted on her social media account.
However, she accepted the decision made by the Wushu Association of India (WAI) and said that the federation and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has given her full support.
At Aichi-Nagoya, Roshibina defeated Bangladesh’s Shika Khatun in the pre-quarterfinals before beating Macao’s Chu Man Sin 5-0 in the quarterfinals. She then defeated Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 in the semifinals to reach the final.
The final against Zhang Xiaoyu ended in a 0-2 defeat, with the Chinese fighter winning both rounds 5-0. Roshibina therefore finished with a silver medal, becoming the first Indian wushu athlete to win medals at three successive editions of the Asian Games.
