Asian Games, Wushu: Roshibana secures guaranteed medal finish, moves to final

HANGZHOU: Roshibana Devi lived up to the expectations of the Indian fans as she stormed into the Wushu 60kg finals and ensured another medal for India on Wednesday in the ongoing Asian Games. While facing a tough challenge in the form of Vietnam's Thi Thu Nguyen, Roshibana emerged victorious with a final scoreline of 2-0 in favour of the Indian.

Roshibana will face now China's Wu Xiaowei in the final on Thursday. Hailing from Manipur, Roshibina has impressed with her performances. She stormed into the semi-final in the women's 60 Kg category on Monday, assuring the country of at least a bronze. She produced a dazzling performance in the quarterfinal, making short work of Kazakhstan's Aiman Karshyga.

Overall, it has been a bit disappointing start for India in Wushu. Suraj Yadav bowed out of the Men's 70kg quarter-final clash after suffering an injury midway through his clash against Afghanistan's Hotak Khalid on Tuesday.

A victory for Suraj would have ensured another medal for India but a single kick ended India's hopes for another medal. Suraj in the blue corner lost the first round to Hotak as he edged past by 3-2.

Running high on confidence, Hotak began the next round with a bang as he landed a brutal kick to Suraj’s head, the Indian fell straight to the mat. He required medical assistance to get up but that kick was enough for Hotak to advance into the semifinal.

Surya Bhanu also posted a win over Uzbekistan’s Khaydarov 2-1 in the 1/8 final in the men’s 60kg category to qualify for the next round. But in the quarters, he lost to South Korea's Kim Minsoo.