Asian Games 2023 wushu: India’s Naorem Roshibina Devi upgrades Jakarta bronze to silver in Hangzhou

India’s Naorem Roshibina Devi won the silver medal in the women’s 60kg sanda wushu event at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China on Thursday.

In the final, Naorem Roshibina Devi lost to China’s Wu Xiaowei 2-0 to settle for the second spot on the podium. It was the Indian’s second Asian Games medal in successive editions. She won bronze at the 2018 Games in Jakarta.

Earlier Naorem Roshibina Devi defeated Kazakhstan’s Aiman Karshyga by WPD (winner by point difference) in the quarter-finals to confirm a medal. She triumphed over Vietnam’s Thi Thu Thuy Nguyen 2-0 in the semi-finals to enter the gold medal match.

India have never won a gold medal in wushu at the Asian Games. Heading into Hangzhou 2023, India had won nine medals - one silver and eight bronze - in wushu at the continental meet.

Sandhyarani Devi clinched a silver in the women’s 60kg at Guangzhou 2010 before Naorem Roshibina Devi matched the feat at Hangzhou 2023.

Naorem Roshibina Devi’s medal win also brought India’s wushu campaign at the Asian Games 2023 to an end.

Sunil Singh Mayanglambam, lost to the Philippines' Arnel Mandal on point difference in the round of 16 of the men’s 56kg sanda while Vikrant Baliyan’s men’s 65kg campaign also came to an end in the final 16 stage with a 2-1 loss to Indonesia’s Samuel Marbun.

Surya Bhanu Pratap Singh, in men’s 60kg, won his first bout 2-1 against Uzbekistan’s Khaydarov Islombek but bowed out after a 2-0 loss to the Republic of Korea’s Kim Minsoo in the quarters. The men’s 70kg category saw Suraj Yadav knocked out by Afghanistan’s Khalid Hotak in the quarter-finals.

In the taolu events, India’s Suraj Singh Mayanglambam and Anjul Namdeo had finished fifth and sixth, respectively in men’s changquan while Rohit Jadhav finished ninth in the men’s daoshu and gunshu all-round.