A two-time medallist at the Games, Roshibina had narrowly lost the selection trials to young talent Divyanshi Choudhary, who was originally picked for the Aichi-Nagoya Games. New Delhi: Until the last minute Roshibina Devi Naorem’s participation at the Asian Games was clouded in controversy.
Having confirmed her third medal, she will fight against China’s Zhang Xiaoyu in the gold medal match. She beat Man sin chu of Macau in the quarters. “Winning a medal for the country is always a proud moment.
On Wednesday, Roshibina, 25, defeated Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas in the semifinals of the women’s 60kg Sanda, winning the contest 2-0. At the 2018 Asian Games she won bronze and improved that to silver in 2023 Hangzhou.
“To not compete much in the last one year and make a comeback at the Asian Games with her third medal is a big moment for her,” he said. This time I want to return with a gold,” Roshibina had said before going for Aichi-Nagoya.
Manipur’s Roshibina had her eyes set on becoming the first wushu player from India to win a hat-trick of medals at the Asian Games. But a year ago she injured her knee, which sidelined for months. Losing the trials to Divyanshi seemed to have dashed her dream. However, Divyanshi was diagnosed with an ACL injury and that saw Wushu Association of India (WUI) fall back on its experienced player. Divyanshi was replaced with Roshibina, but controversy erupted when the youngster in a highly-charged emotional video alleged that she was unfairly removed from the team, even blaming Roshibina. WAI coaches and officials then had a chat with Divyanshi and made her understand the gravity of the situation and she realised her mistake.
