Naorem Roshibina Devi Wins Wushu Silver: Who Is Manipur's Asian Games 2023 Medallist? What Is The Sport All About?

Manipur's Naorem Roshibina Devi clinched a silver medal for India in the women's 60Kg Wushu event at the Asian Games 2023 on Thursday (September 28).

The 22-year-old missed out on the gold after going down in the final to her Chinese opponent Xiaowei Wu by 2-0. However, she has upgraded the colour of her medal from bronze, which she won in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.

Roshibana Devi had stormed into the Wushu 60kg finals and ensured another medal for India. In a tough semifinal against Vietnam's Thi Thu Nguyen, Roshibana emerged victorious with a final scoreline of 2-0.

She also produced a dazzling performance in the quarterfinal, making short work of Kazakhstan's Aiman Karshyga. Roshibina equalled Wangkhem Sandhyarani Devi's achievement of a silver in the women's 60kg at Guangzhou in 2010.

But it was not a great outing for India in the sport in Hangzhou as they ended with just one medal from 5 competitors. At the last edition of the Asian Games, India's 13-member Wushu contingent returned with four bronze medals.

While the overall outcome was not great, Roshibana Devi lived up to the expectations and improved on her achievement. But who is she? Where does she come from? Here is all you need to know about her:

Who is Naorem Roshibina Devi?

Born on December 30, 2000, the 22-year-old, Roshibina competes in sanda 60kg event in Wushu. She is currently coached by Prem Singh. Roshibina is a SAI NCOE Athlete from NCOE Manipur. Her NCC Coach is Rajesh Tailor.

Naorem Roshibina Devi, comes from a place called as Bishnupur in Manipur. She comes from a humble background. Naorem generally competes in the 60-kg category in the Sanda discipline.

Her first ever international achievement came during the Junior Worlds in 2016, where she won a bronze medal. Her first medal was special to Roshibina as it made her parents so proud.

Roshibina Devi's Major Achievements

• 2023 Moscow Wushu Star Championship - Gold

• 2018 Asian Games - Bronze

• 2017 Asian Junior Wushu Championships - Gold

What is Wushu?

Wushu is a combination of two Chinese words: Wu means 'war' and Shu means 'arts'. means "martial technique". It is a sport that falls under martial arts and is derived from Chinese martial arts. It is contested in numerous styles: with weapons or with bare hands.

It has a history dating back thousands of years to the Qin Dynasty. In the modern day, there are two main disciplines of wushu: taolu, or choreographed routines, and sanda, full-contact combat.

Taolu is further split into categories based on different stances, movements, routines, and even weapons - including the bare-handed taijiquan and taijijian, which is tai chi with a Chinese straight sword.

Meanwhile, sanda features combat using wushu and kung fu techniques, and is split into weight categories similar to other Asian martial arts such as judo and taekwondo, effectively making it the fighting form of wushu.