Asian Games 2023: India wins gold medal in equestrian after 41 yrs
India's Hriday Vipul Chheda, Anush Agarwalla, Divyakriti Singh and Sudipti Hajela pose for photographs after winning the gold medal in the Eques trian Dressage Team event at the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou, China on Tuesday
Hangzhou: The Indian team comprising Divyakriti Singh, Sudipti Hajela, Anush Agarwalla and Hriday Vipul Chheda created history in Hangzhou on Tuesday as they won the country’s first ever equestrian dressage team event gold at the Asian Games.
It also ended a 41-year-old wait for a gold medal in equestrian at the Asian Games for India. The team finished ahead of China and Hong Kong China with a total of 209.205 points. The top-scorer for India was Agarwalla, who was the last perform astride Etro.
His total of 71.088 was the second best of the day individually in the Prix St-Georges phase. Two more phases remain in the dressage individual event, where Chheda, astride Chemxpro Emerald, is placed third with 69.941. Hajela, astride Chinski scored 66.706 points while Singh got a total of 68.176, astride Adrenalin Firfod.
The three best scores are taken into the total to determine the gold medal. Equestrian riding has three disciplines: dressage, show jumping and eventing.
Think of dressage as the equivalent of figure skating. The horse and rider have to exhibit a series of predetermined movements. The horse will walk, trot and canter as music plays in the background. The discipline, contested on a flat 20×60 metres patch of ground, demands complete precision and harmony between horse and rider.