Asian Games 2023 equestrian: Anush Agarwalla adds individual dressage bronze medal to India’s team gold
This was India’s first-ever individual dressage medal at the Asian Games. Anush Agarwalla was part of the gold medal-winning Indian dressage team earlier this week.
Equestrian
India’s Anush Agarwalla won the individual dressage bronze medal in equestrian at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China on Thursday.
This was Anush Agarwalla’s second medal at Hangzhou 2023. He had earlier combined with Hriday Chheda, Divyakriti Singh and Sudipti Hajela to win a historic team dressage gold medal - India’s first top finish in equestrian at the continental meet since 1982.
Competing in the final intermediate 1 freestyle section of dressage at the Tonglu Equestrian Centre, Anush Agarwalla and his horse Etro tallied an average score of 73.030 - 69.900 in the technical segment and 76.160 in artistic - to finish third in the standings.
Malaysian veteran Qabil Ambak won the gold medal with 75.780 while Jacqueline Wing Ying Siu of Hong Kong China took the silver with 73.450. Interestingly, it was Siu who won the gold in the event at Jakarta 2018 while Qabil Ambak had to settle for a silver.
India’s Hriday Chheda, who had topped Thursday’s intermediate 1 stage, was eliminated in the final freestyle round for the medals.
Divyakriti Singh, who finished 11th in the intermediate 1 stage, did not make the cut for Thursday’s medal round. Sudipti Hajela, meanwhile, was eliminated in the intermediate 1 stage and did not make the freestyle segment.
Anush Agarwalla’s bronze on Thursday was India’s 17th medal in equestrian at the Asian Games but the first-ever in individual dressage.