India’s only gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games on Tuesday came from rather unexpected quarters. Sudipti Hajela, Divyakriti Singh, Vipul Hriday Chheda and Anush Agarwalla were performing well in the selection trials of the dressage event in equestrian, with their scores either matching or bettering Asian Games medal winners of past editions. They ended up aggregating 209.205 percentage points, finishing ahead of China (204.882 %) and Hong Kong (204.852%) and thus winning gold. It is the first time since 1982 that India had won an Asian Games medal in equestrian.
Results of dressage event are decided on the percentage points that a rider and their horse accumalate. Points are awarded to the rider and the horse, with each movement marked from zero to 10. Each rider gets an overall score and from there, a percentage is worked out. The rider with the highest percentage is the winner of his class. Top three scorers in a team are counted to determine the winner.
The Indian team is made of riders, all with an interesting life story of their own. Lets take a look at them:
Sudipti Hajela: Hajela was born on May 10, 2002 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Equestrian began as a summer hobby for her at the age of six. She is coached by Camillee Judet Cheret, who has competed in the Olympics for France. Her training base is currently in Pamfou, France.
Divyakriti Singh: Divyakriti was born on October 20, 1999 in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Her equestrian journey started in the 7th grade in her school, where it was mandatory to play a sport and she chose horse-riding. Soon after, Divyakriti excelled in the competitive sport of Dressage, Show Jumping and Polo. She did her bachelors in Psychology and Philosophy from Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi where she was on the Equestrian Program of the university.
Vipul Hriday Chheda: Born on July 24, 1998, Cheddha also started equestrian at the age of six. He has trained with the likes of Hannes Baumgart, Johan Zagers and Emma Kanerva over the last decade and was based with British olympian Emile Faurie for a period of one year in 2017. Cheddha has also been active in developing the sport in the country. In 2021, he started working with Nanoli Stud Farm in India to develop a state of the art riding facility and also start the first breeding program for dressage horses in the country. The project is set to launch in 2024.
Anush Agarwala: Agarwalla was born in in Kolkata on November 23, 1999. He sat on a horse for the first time when he was just three years old at the The Tollygunge Club and says that what was initially a fun weekend ritual ended up becoming a passion. “When I was 8 years old my mother enrolled me to get riding lessons, and I started competing in local events for children. I remember googling pictures of the stadiums at the Asian Games and Olympic Games and telling my friends that one day I would compete there,” he is quoted as saying by SAI. Agrwalla was the first Indian to qualify for the the World Championships in dressage. He achieved thge milestone at CDI Hagen when he achieved 67.5% on Sir Caramello Old.
