On September 28, Naorem Roshibina Devi, a martial arts player won a silver medal in Wushu at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in China. The Asian games in Hangzhou are taking place from September 23 and will conclude on October 8 with Indian athletes competing across 39 sports.
The 22-year-old won the silver medal in the women’s 60- kilogrammes Wushu semi-final. This was India’s maiden medal in the martial arts. China’s Wu Xiaowei won the gold.
Before the final event, Roshibinna Devi was quoted as saying that Wushu was popular in her state, Manipur. “I fell in love with it when I saw it for the first time during a district competition. That’s when I wanted to pick it up. I knew boxing and used to try it but I liked wushu more,” she said.
While dedicating her medal to Manipur, Roshibina promised to win a gold medal at the next Asian games which are scheduled to be held in Tokyo in 2026.
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“I’m happy about my performance, but I could have been happier if I would have been the champion and also if the situation in my home state was resolved,” Roshibina Devi said in a news report.
The silver medallist’s family lives in Kwakshiphai village in Manipur’s Bishnupur district. Her father Naorem Damu Singh is a farmer.
“For all of us in our small family and village, we are happy as my daughter bagged a silver medal. But she (Devi) was expecting a gold in the final match,” Singh said.
Soon after they heard about their daughter’s achievement, Singh called his daughter. He said that she sounded disappointed that she had not won the gold medal. “I, however, asked her not to lose heart, and encouraged her to grab first position in the upcoming international competition.”
Fifteen years ago, Roshibina began practising kicking and punching an improvised punching bag at her home. That ultimately led to her learning Wushu at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) training centre in Imphal.
“When she was just seven or eight years old she collected tattered clothes and made a punch bag which she punched and kicked frantically all the time,” said Singh.
“Considering her determination and zeal, a Wushu champion Malemnganbi Devi from our locality began teaching my daughter. There is another Wushu coach named M Ronel Singh from Nachou, from our neighbouring village who also taught Devi the art of the game for a short period of time,” Singh added.
Roshibina’s silver medal adds to the haul of medals won by Indian Athletes at the Asian Games. As of October 4, India had secured a total of 84 medals with 21 gold medals, 31 silver medals and 32 bronze medals.
