Roshibina Devi dedicates her Asian Games 2023 silver medal to Manipur

The Indian athlete has upgraded her bronze medal from the Jakarta Asian Games 2018 to a silver at Hangzhou.

Naorem Roshibina Devi won a silver medal in the women’s 60kg wushu at the ongoing Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou on Thursday. This was her second medal at the Asian Games, bettering her previous performance at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. She had won bronze at the last edition.

However, under the current circumstances, she would not be returning to her hometown. Roshibina is a native of the Kwashiphai village in the Bishnupur district of Manipur. She belongs to the Meiti community in an area dominated by the Kuki tribe. Manipur is in the midst of an ongoing ethnic conflict between the Meiti and Kuki communities in the state, which has left numerous people dead since its onset in May.

“I do not get to go home at all. The last time I met my family was when my father came to visit me at the SAI Imphal hostel in June. Even now, I cannot return to my village. I’ll go to the hostel,” lamented the 22-year-old after winning the silver.

“They told me to focus on the match and not on other things,” she said. “My family is fine. I don’t speak to them regularly as my coaches say the violence at home will distract me,” added Roshbina. The fact that Roshmina was meant to be a star was evident from her performances at the junior level. She announced herself with a bang with a bronze at the 2016 Junior World Championships.

"Manipur is burning. Fighting is going on in Manipur. I can't go to my village. I want to dedicate this medal to those who are protecting us and suffering there," said Roshibina after clinching the silver. I don't know what will happen, the fighting has been continuing. When will it stop and return to normal life of earlier times?" asked the athlete was clearly distraught over the incidents that were going on in her state. 

In spite of all that crisis, she still managed to perform in the finals and went down after giving a valiant fight to her opponents. She was pitted against the home favourite Wu Xiaowei in the finals. Xiaowei was also the defending champion and as such the stakes were higher for the Indian athletes. The match ended in the favour of the Chinese athlete who won it 2-0 in the end.

The victory also meant China's dominance continued in the women's 60 kg category in Wushu. Courtesy of Wu China successfully defended their gold medal of the Jakarta-Palembang edition.