Asian Games: Anush Agarwalla wins historic bronze in Dressage Individual; Hriday Chheda gets eliminated

HANGZHOU — Anush Agarwalla made history for India in the Asian Games equestrian championships on Thursday by winning the bronze medal in the Dressage Individual competition at the Tonglu Equestrian Centre in Hangzhou.

Agarwalla finished third atop his horse Etro as he finished with a 73.030 percentage score as he took the bronze medal behind Malaysia’s Bin Mohammad FAthil Mohd Qabil Ambak who topped the standings with a 75.780 percentage score while Hong Kong China’s Jacqueline Wing Ying Siu claimed the silver medal with 73.450 percentage score in Intermediate I Freestyle competition.

Anush Agarwalla thus became the first Indian to win an Individual medal in dressage in Asian Games. All of India’s medals before Hangzhou came in Eventing, show jumping and tent pegging. But on Thursday, Anush Agarwalla added the Dressage Individual bronze to the gold medal that he along with Hriday Chheta, Sudipti Hajela and Divyakriti Singh bagged in the Dressage Team competition a couple of days ago.

India was unlucky to miss a gold medal in this event as Chheda was eliminated from the competition on Thursday.

Chheda, who qualified third after the Dressage Individual Prix St-Georges and was leading after the Intermediate I stage, was Eliminated on Thursday and missed out on a chance of winning a medal. While Chheda was in the lead going into the final day, Mohd Qabil was second and Hong Kong’s Jacqueline Sui was placed third with Anush Agarwalla in fourth position.

Hriday got eliminated as his horse Chemxpro Emerald refused to get into the arena for Thursday’s routine and when he was forced in, he got injured and his left fore leg showed some blood on it. “As per the rules of equestrian competitions, if there is blood on the body of the horse, it means direct elimination and it was unfortunate that Hriday Chheda, who was doing so well, had to face this situation,” said a source close to the Indian dressage team.

But once Hriday got eliminated on Thursday, the rest finished in the same order with Anush moving up to third position.

“The feeling is really unreal. I still don’t feel that I won the bronze. After winning the Team gold already, I knew that it would be good. I knew that I had a good partnership with my horse, and when I woke up in the morning, I knew it would be good. I even texted my mother, ‘Mom, today we will get something, I know today we will be good’. My horse was amazing,” said Anush Agarwalla after winning the medal.

“I am so, so happy. It’s been a long, long journey, a very, very difficult one. A lot of times I thought ‘OK I am not good enough’. But holding this medal is worth it. I am just very happy at how it all went,” said Agarwalla.

Agarwalla had to face some anxious moments as the last rider went in for the final routine. But then things fell in place and the bronze medal was his.

“When the last rider went in, I knew I was third and those six-seven minutes until his results came out felt like six years. I could not breathe, I was nervous. I was more nervous during this period than the past few days. It was all so amazing. I thank him and all my other medal winners for great sportsmanship. It’s been a tough battle and interesting battle, one that I will always remember,” said Agarwalla.

Talking about Hriday’s elimination on the final day, Agarwalla said, “It’s a great pity. He is a great competitor but it is part and parcel of the sport. We rise and we fall together. But I am really, really proud of him. On the first day, how he managed (his horse) he is still an Asian Games gold-winning champion. That’s not something many people can do. On top of that, he was also winning the test yesterday, so that shows that he is good enough. He just had bad luck today,” said Agarwalla.

Asian Games: Pistol shooters bag gold in Men’s 10m Team event; fifth gold in shooting so far

HANGZHOU — The Indian trio Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Singh Cheema and Shiva Narwal won a gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol Team shooting in the Asian Games on Thursday as India continued to reap medals at the shooting range at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre, here.

After a sensational day on Wednesday when the Indian shooters won 7 medals including two gold, the pistol shooters continued India’s brilliant run by winning the fourth gold medal in shooting here.

Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Singh Cheema and Shiva Narwal finished with a combined score of 1734, with a whopping 50 hits in the inner 10 circle, to win gold ahead of China (1733-62x) and Vietnam (1730-59x).    

The Indians scored 284 in the first series and then added 287, 291, 294, 290 and 288 in the remaining five.

This is India’s sixth gold medal overall in the Hangzhou Asian Games.

In the team competition, Sarabjot shot the best score for the Indians, 580 while Arjun Singh shot 578 and Shiva had 576.

However, Sarabjot and Arjun Singh Cheema could not replicate their performance in the Individual section, finishing fourth and eighth respectively.

Sarabjot had his chances in the Individual event too and was in contention for the bronze medal but a poor 8.8 on his 19th shot put paid to his hopes as he got eliminated with a score of 219.9.

“I am happy to win the gold in the team competition, but disappointed to miss the medal in the individual. I had my chances but made a couple of mistakes and that cost me a medal,” said Sarabjot after the final.

He said the aim for him now is to participate in the Asian championship and hope to grab a quota place for Paris Olympics.

Asian Games: Roshibina Devi wins her second medal in wushu, disappointed not to win gold

HANGZHOU — Naorem Roshibina Devi made history for India in the Asian Game Wushu completions on Thursday, winning a medal in the second successive Games But the colour of the medal was not what she had wanted and works hard for.

Roshibina won a silver in the Women”s Sanda 60kg wushu at the Xiaoshan Geuli Sports Centre in Hangzhou after losing to home favourite Wu Xiaowei of China 0-2 in the final.

Roshibina, who had won a bronze medallist in the same weight category in the 2018 Asian Games, had reached the final by beating Thi Thu Thuy Ngeyen of Vietnam on Wednesday, out up a good fight initially but made some mistakes that helped the Chinese opponent the chance to score two points

“I made some mistakes, which I should not have  I will try and improve and don’t make those mistakes. I have worked hard for this and came here with lot of hope. I wanted to win gold medal for my country but it did not happen today. I will improve further and win gold next time ” said Roshibina Devi.

Roshibina Devi could be pardoned the mistakes she made in the final for she has been distracted by things happening in her home state on Manipur, which has been experiening ethenic violence for the last many months. Roshibina Devi’s parents are still in Manipur and she lives in fear every day for her safety.

Roshibina, who has been living away from Manipur for training,  said she usually speaks to them very Sunday but is always worries that the next time she may not be able to speak to them.

‘I am always worried about their safety,” she told the media here.

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