Naorem Roshibina Devi: From a nondescript Manipur village to Hangzou Asiad
Manipur’s Bishnupur district, a little girl spent her free time punching and kicking at an improvised punching bag she made at her residence, paving her way to learn Wushu at Sports Authority of India (SAI) training centre in Imphal.
On Thursday, the girl – Naorem Roshibina Devi — clinched a silver medal in the women’s 60-kg Sanda final at the ongoing 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. In the match, Xiaowi Wu of the host country defeated her 2-0.
Roshibina had hoped to script history by clinching India’s first gold in Wushu at the Asian Games after her terrific performance at the semi finals defeating Vietnam’s Thi Thu Thuy Ngyugen 2-0, needing only 2 rounds of 2 minutes each.
“ I’m happy about my performance but I could have been happier if I would have been the champion and also if the situation in my home state was resolved” said the talented and aggressive Sanda fighter while reacting to the media after the final bout.
She went on saying she will aim for gold in the next outing.
Nevertheless, Roshibina managed to change the color of medal she won at Jakarta Asiad in 2018 from bronze to silver this time.
“For all of us in our small family and village, we are all happy as my daughter bagged a silver medal today. But her (Roshibina) elation didn’t go to the peak as she was expecting a gold in the final match,” Naorem Damu Singh, father of Roshibina said.
Soon after he heard the great news about his daughter, he somehow managed to call her on WhatsApp from a house where the internet is accessible, said Damu, an ordinary cultivator.
“During our short conversation, my daughter was not in her highest happiness mood as she said she was expecting a gold medal in the final match.
