India landed a third gold medal the Asian Games 2023 when on Tuesday its Equestrian team secured a top-of-the-podium finish in the dressage event. Anush Agarwalla, Hriday Chheda, Divyakriti Singh, Sudipti Hajela and their respective horses combined to score 209.205 and landed India its first medal in the sport after 41 years. India had secured a gold medal when the Asian Games were played in New Delhi in 1982 – Raghubir Singh had won eventing individual – and four decades later, what better way to break the deadlock by another historic gold.
The Indian team staged a remarkable comeback after dropping to third place in the initial period. allowing China and Hong Kong to go ahead. Still in contention of a bronze medal, Anush and his horse Etro, scored 71.088, pushing him in the second position in the individual rankings. With others chipping in too, India latched on to the top spot and took the top honours in the event stretching a little over an hour. Chheda-Emerald scored 69.941, Divyakriti-Adrenalin Firdod got 68.176, and Sudipti-Chinski secured 66.706 to finally end India’s wait for a gold on Day 3 of the Games.