Roshibina Devi storms into Asian Games 2026 wushu final, eyes gold after bronze and silver in last 2 editions

India have been assured of another medal as Naorem Roshibina Devi has advanced to the final of women's 60kg Wushu event at Asian Games 2026. India have bagged five silver at Asian Games 2026 already and just one gold. Roshibina has revived the hopes for a gold after defeating Indonesia's Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 in the semifinal at Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall, Nagoya.

Roshibina will be eyeing her maiden Asian Games gold when she takes on China's Xiaoyu Zhang. She has a silver and bronze medal each in the previous two editions of Asian Games 2026.

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In the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, she beat Pakistan's Mubashtra Akhtar to assure India of a medal. But, in the semifinal match, she lost to China's Cai Yingying. In the 2023 Hangzhou Asian games, she made it to the final. But, she had to settle for a silver after a loss to China's Wu Xiaowei. In the ongoing edition, she faces another Chinese opponent in the summit clash. 

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Controversy before Asian Games 2026

Arjuna Awardee Roshibina’s story is nothing short of a fairytale considering she was a late addition to the squad after an injury to Divyanshi Choudhary led to her withdrawal from the competition.

Earlier, Divyanshi had claimed that she was being mentally and physically harassed and Roshibina had an involvement in it. She claimed defeating Roshibina in the selection trial. She questioned her removal from the squad after Wushu Association of India (WAI) ruled her out of Asian Games due to a partial high-grade ACL tear.

Divyanshi also claimed that the doctors said that she can participate in Asian Games 2026 with her knee taped and alleged that she was dropped by WAI without proper communication. WAI dismissed Divyanshi's allegations and maintained that Roshibina was only named in the squad due to Divyanshi’s injury.