Asian Games 2026: Bhavani Devi Exits Early, Roshibina Devi Wins Silver
Fencing: Bhavani Devi's Journey Ends in Round of 16
Olympian Bhavani Devi concluded her fencing journey at the Asian Games 2026, exiting in the round of 16 during the women's sabre individual event on Thursday. She advanced to the knockout rounds after securing a narrow 5-4 victory against Kazakhstan's Aigerim Sarybay and a 5-2 win over Thailand's Arisara Somphao, as reported by Olympics.com. However, she faced three defeats in the pool stage against South Korea's Jeongmi Kim (5-1), Iran's Najmeh Sazanjian (5-4), and Uzbekistan's Zaynab Dayibekova (5-4). To reach the round of 32, she needed to win two crucial matches, ultimately defeating Mongolia's Oulen Tugsjargal 15-8. Unfortunately, her campaign ended in the pre-quarters, where she lost to China's Rao Xueyi, a silver medallist from the 2026 World Championships, with a score of 15-5.
Wushu: Roshibina Devi Claims Silver Medal
In another highlight, Roshibina Devi earned her second consecutive silver medal at the Asian Games, falling to China's Zhang Xiaoyu in the women's sanda 60 kg final on Thursday in Aichi-Nagoya. Earlier, the duo of Satnam Singh and Salman Khan secured a bronze medal in the men's double sculls final. Roshibina, who also won silver at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, lost both rounds with a score of 0-5, while her Chinese opponent clinched the match 2-0, according to ESPN. Roshibina's impressive performance in Japan included a victory over 2023 world champion Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy from Vietnam.
Rowing: Satnam-Salman Win Bronze, Balraj Panwar Falls Short
In rowing, the pair of Satnam and Salman clocked a time of 6:13.25, finishing just 3.48 seconds behind China's gold medalists Yi Xudi and Nie Yide, and 2.76 seconds behind the silver medalists Mekhrojbek Mamatkulov and Pavel Sorin, as per ESPN. They maintained second place at the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m marks but lost momentum towards the end. Meanwhile, Balraj Panwar, competing in the men's singles sculls, finished fourth. He initially held second place at the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m marks but was overtaken by Uzbekistan's Shakhboz Kholmurzaev and Japan's Tatsuya Sakurama in the final stretch, finishing with a time of 6:54.80, which was 15 seconds behind gold medalist Zhiwei Deng of China.