CHENNAI: AFTER losing to Divyanshi Choudhary at the selection trials in June, life for wushu athlete Naorem Roshibina Devi seemed normal at first glance. But inside, she was drowning in emotions and doubts had crept in. She took part in the All-Police finals in the first week of August and had no hopes of making the cut for the Asian Games. In the days that followed, the script had changed. With Wushu Association of India (WAI) withdrawing Divyanshi's name due to 'knee injury', Roshibina got a last-minute ticket to Japan.
When the women’s 61kg sanda event began, there were doubts from those around her. Amit Pal, the coach of the wushu contingent, admitted it. “We had expectations from Roshibina from the first day itself that she would stand on the podium, but since she did not train actively ahead of this event, we toned it down by a notch. Somewhere in our mind, there was a little doubt,” the 2014 national champion told this daily from Nagoya.
The seasoned Wushu practitioner completed her hat-trick of Asian Games medals on Thursday, as she lost the final to Zhang Xiaoyu in the final. While her cabinet will glisten with two silvers and a bronze medal, she is still not satisfied. “Right now, I am happy, but I couldn’t achieve my dream of winning gold, which I had since 2018,” she told this daily from Nagoya.
The 25-year-old recalled the time when she was called up in the eleventh hour after Divyanshi was injured. “Once it was confirmed that I was in the team, I felt both happiness and a bit of pressure. There was some emotional tension, but once you entered the arena,I knew I had to do something. I had faith in myself,” she added.
But it is the faith and trust instilled upon by her coaches at SAI NCOE in Imphal — where she believes she had rejuvenated herself after the selection trials — that kept her going. “My coach Maibam Premkumar Singh explained to me that whatever happens, I have to perform even better. It’s not like if you’re not going (to the Asian Games). He kept telling me that until the very end, we would give it our best effort and that I shouldn't stop practising. He kept boosting me mentally, because I had gotten very emotional thinking I couldn't go. If a mistake happened once, to prevent it from happening again, I felt the need to work even harder. The mistake on my part was a bit of overconfidence during the trials. So, I won't repeat that mistake. My coaches have big dreams for me, and to fulfill them, I need to practice well,” she said.
Apart from her personal milestone, she also maintained India's rich streak in the Asian Games. A streak that began in 2006, India have now had a medal in wushu in six back-to-back Games. That impressive record has certainly not missed out on Wushu Association of India (WAI) CEO Suhel Ahmed, who was obviously delighted for Roshibina. "In martial arts discipline, from 2006 until 2026, it's just wushu that has produced six back-to-back medals. Nobody in this discipline has this kind of track record, be it taekwondo, judo, karate. The sport has continuously been producing medals. If one has to factor World Championships, wushu is up there again," Suhel said.
After the medal, most of the recent selection controversies surrounding Roshibina are bound to take the back seat. Despite not being part of the original plans, Suhel said that Roshibina was never forgotten. The fact that she was a standby, ahead of other higher finishers in the selection trials, meant she was always held in high regard by the selection panel. "She had lost in the semis (national trials) but the top-four ranking we had for Asian Games, she was No 1 in that ranking. That is why she was selected once Divyanshi was injured. And the player who had finished as runners-up in the trials, she was lower-ranked always. That is why the selection committee had originally picked Roshibina as a standby," he said.
"The selection committee takes everything into consideration and decides the ranking. That day (the semifinal loss vs Divyanshi in trials), it didn't go her way but her performances just can't be ignored. Manu Bhaker, who's a double Olympic medallist, had a rare day off yesterday (Wednesday), so this could have happened to any one."