Key Takeaways
- Naorem Roshibina Devi upgraded her 2018 bronze to a silver medal in women’s 60kg sanda at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
- India secured its second Wushu silver of the Games, matching Sandhyarani Devi’s 2010 achievement.
- The competition saw strong performances from athletes across Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and China, highlighting the depth of talent in Asian sanda events.
Hangzhou: India’s Naorem Roshibina Devi upgraded Jakarta bronze to silver at the Asian Games 2023 Wushu here on Thursday.
Naorem lost to China’s Wu Xiawei 2-0 in the women’s 60kg sanda final.
This was India’s second silver medal in Wushu at this Asiad.
Naorem had won bronze at the 2018 Asian Games.
Earlier, she overwhelmed Kazakhstan’s Aiman Karshyga by WPD (winner by point difference) in the quarterfinals to confirm a medal.
Naorem defeated Vietnam’s Thi Thu Thuy Nguyen 2-0 in the semifinals to enter the gold medal match.
Sandhyarani Devi bagged silver in the women’s 60kg at Guangzhou 2010 before Naorem matched the feat at Hangzhou 2023, which brought India’s Wushu campaign at the Asian Games 2023 to an end.
Sunil Singh Mayanglambam, lost to the Philippines’ Arnel Mandal on point difference in the round of 16 of the men’s 56kg sanda while Vikrant Baliyan’s men’s 65kg campaign also came to an end in the final 16 stage with a 2-1 loss to Indonesia’s Samuel Marbun.
Surya Bhanu Pratap Singh, in men’s 60kg, won his first bout 2-1 against Uzbekistan’s Khaydarov Islombek but bowed out after a 2-0 loss to the Republic of Korea’s Kim Minsoo in the quarters. The men’s 70kg category saw Suraj Yadav knocked out by Afghanistan’s Khalid Hotak in the quarter-finals.
In the taolu events, India’s Suraj Singh Mayanglambam and Anjul Namdeo finished fifth and sixth, respectively in men’s changquan while Rohit Jadhav finished ninth in the men’s Daoshu and Gunshu allround.
