New Delhi: She wasn’t supposed to be in Aich-Nagoya. Not at the Asian Games. Not at her third successive continental event. And certainly not one win away from a place in the women’s 60kg sanda final.Naorem Roshibina Devi had lost fairly in the selection trials for the Games, held in Srinagar in June. Her teammate Divyanshi Choudhary beat her in the semifinals and went on to win the trials, earning the original berth in India’s wushu squad.Asian Games Full Coverage| Schedule| Medal TallyRoshibina had accepted her fate. After winning bronze at Jakarta 2018 and silver at Hangzhou 2023, she appeared set to miss her third continental Games.Then came a sudden twist of fate.Divyanshi was subsequently ruled out after the Wushu Association of India (WAI) said an MRI showed a high-grade ACL tear with large effusion. The federation replaced her with Roshibina, reopening a door the Manipuri had thought was firmly shut.And she has made the most of it.On Tuesday, Roshibina defeated Macau’s Chu Man Sin 5-0 in the women’s 60kg sanda quarterfinal at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall to storm into the semifinals and assure herself of at least a bronze medal. A day earlier, she had beaten Bangladesh’s Shika Khatun in the pre-quarters.Now she has a chance to go one step further — and change the colour of her medal.The 25-year-old has already changed colours once at the Asian Games. After her bronze in Jakarta, she ended India’s 13-year wait for a wushu silver at Hangzhou, finishing second in the same 60kg sanda event.Now, another medal is assured, gold is her target.Her return to the squad, however, came amid a controversy. Divyanshi, who had beaten Roshibina in the trials, disputed her replacement and alleged harassment, while the federation rejected the allegations and maintained that the decision was solely medical.In other matches involving Indians, Hanjabam Langlentombi Devi finished ninth in women’s Nanquan & Nandao, while Aryan Thakur lost 1-2 to Uzbekistan’s Saydullo Aburashitov in the men’s 56kg sanda quarterfinal.
