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Two-time Asian Games medallist Naorem Roshibina Devi was named the International Wushu Federation's (IWUF) female athlete of the year in the sanda category on January 23 after a month-long public voting.
The 23-year-old Roshibina, who secured a bronze and a silver in the 2018 and 2022 Asian Games, garnered 93,545 votes to surpass Shahrbano Mansouriyan Semiromi (88,179) of Iran and Wu Xiaowei (46,753) of China.
In September 2023, Roshibina won silver in the women's 60kg Wushu Sanda at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, where she lost to Wu Xiaowei of China.
“Next time I will do even better and bring the gold for India. My country has supported me a lot and their blessings have helped me get here this far. I thank you all for that” she said.
“My parents don’t let me come home. I live in the hostel in Imphal. They think it’s better for me to be in the hostel than go home,” she said. “Sirs [national coach Kuldeep Handoo and assistant coach Rajesh Kumar Tailor] don’t let me talk to them daily because it will bring me distress. So they take my phones away. I talk to them on Sundays for a little bit. Even then they don’t talk about the problems there”, she added.
Following the preliminary evaluation by the IWUF Athletes Committee, 45 candidates from 23 countries and regions participated in the public voting across various categories, as announced by the IWUF on January 23.
Additionally, the Manipuri athlete secured a bronze medal in the 2016 World Junior Wushu Championships. She was honoured with the Arjuna Award in the same year.
Furthermore, in the 9th Asian Junior Wushu Championships held in Gumi, South Korea, she achieved a gold medal.
In the 2018 Asian Games, she participated in the Women's Sanda 60 kg event. Her victory over Mubashra Akhtar of Pakistan in the quarter-finals guaranteed her a medal. However, she lost to Cai Yingying of China in the semi-finals and was jointly awarded a bronze medal.
(Powered by AI, Inputs by PTI)
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