Called Up at the 11th Hour, Roshibina Devi Clinches Silver for India at Asian Games

11th-Hour Call-Up Ends in Silver: Roshibina Devi Makes Asian Games History

India’s Roshibina Devi won the silver medal in the women’s 60kg Sanda event at the Asian Games 2026 on Thursday, September 24, after receiving a late call-up to the Indian team.

Roshibina was beaten 0-2 by China’s Zhang Xiaoyu in the gold-medal bout, with Zhang winning both rounds 5-0.

The Chinese fighter controlled the contest from the opening exchange and never allowed Roshibina to find her rhythm. Zhang maintained her dominance across both rounds to secure the gold, leaving Roshibina with her second consecutive Asian Games silver.

Despite the defeat, Roshibina achieved a significant milestone. She has now won medals at three successive editions of the Asian Games — bronze in Jakarta in 2018, silver in Hangzhou in 2023 and silver in Aichi-Nagoya in 2026.

She is the first Indian wushu athlete to win medals at three consecutive Asian Games.

Who Is Roshibina Devi?

Born on December 30, 2000, in Kwasiphai Mayai Leikai in Manipur’s Bishnupur district, Roshibina Devi is one of India’s leading wushu competitors.

She competes in Sanda, the combat discipline of wushu that features striking, kicking and throwing techniques.

Roshibina became interested in wushu as a child after watching a district-level competition in Manipur. She also briefly tried boxing before choosing wushu and beginning formal training.

She initially trained under local coaches before joining the Sports Authority of India’s centre in Imphal, where she worked with coach Maibam Premkumar Singh.

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

A year later, she moved up to 60kg and won gold at the Asian Junior Wushu Championships in Gumi, South Korea.

From Asian Games Debut to Three Medals

Roshibina made her Asian Games debut in Jakarta in 2018 at the age of 17.

She defeated Pakistan’s Mubashra Akhtar in the quarter-finals before losing to China’s Cai Yingying in the semi-finals, earning a bronze medal.

She continued her progress by winning gold at the 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu.

At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, Roshibina reached the 60kg Sanda final. She eventually took silver after losing to China’s Wu Xiaowei.

That medal ended India’s long wait for a silver in wushu at the Asian Games.

Roshibina also enjoyed a successful 2023 outside the continental Games. She won 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 its Female Sanda Athlete of the Year.

Why Was Roshibina a Late Addition to India’s Team?

Roshibina’s place in India’s Asian Games 2026 squad was uncertain until shortly before the Games.

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

However, Divyanshi was later withdrawn from the squad after medical examinations. The Wushu Association of India said she had suffered a partial high-grade ACL tear accompanied by significant effusion.

Roshibina was subsequently named as her replacement.

The change led to controversy in the build-up to the Games. Divyanshi alleged that she had been harassed and bullied by Roshibina at the Wushu camp in Patiala and claimed that Roshibina had deliberately attempted to injure her shoulder during training.

Divyanshi also posted a video threatening to take her own life, saying she had not been informed about her replacement in the Asian Games team.

She later apologised for the video and accepted the decision to remove her from the squad, although she did not withdraw her allegations against Roshibina.

The Wushu Association rejected the allegations and maintained that Divyanshi’s removal was based on medical grounds.

• Roshibina’s Asian Games 2026 Campaign
• Once in Aichi-Nagoya, Roshibina shifted her focus to competition.

She opened her campaign with a win over Bangladesh’s Shika Khatun in the pre-quarterfinals.

In the quarter-finals, she defeated Macao’s Chu Man Sin 5-0 to secure a medal. The victory also confirmed her place in history as the first Indian wushu athlete to win medals at three consecutive Asian Games.

Roshibina then defeated Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 in the semi-finals to reach the gold-medal bout.

But Zhang Xiaoyu proved too strong in the final.

The Chinese fighter had already produced an impressive run in the competition, including a victory over Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, the 2023 world champion.

Zhang carried that momentum into the final, winning both rounds 5-0 to claim the gold medal.

Roshibina leaves Aichi-Nagoya with another silver and an unprecedented run of three successive Asian Games medals: bronze in 2018, silver in 2023 and silver in 2026.

The Asian Games gold remains the one major medal missing from her record, but her three consecutive podium finishes underline her sustained success in the continental competition.