Asian Games, Equestrian: Sudipti Hajela reflects on first gold in 41 years – 'It feels surreal'

Sudipti Hajela struggled to find words to describe what had just been achieved. Neither she, nor her teammates Divyakriti Singh, Hriday Chheda, and Anush Agarwalla had been born the last time India won a gold medal at the Asian Games in equestrian, in 1982.

But on Tuesday, the quartet combined to win gold in the team dressage event in Hangzhou, earning the country a spot at the top of the podium in the sport for the first time in 41 years.

“We had only dreamt of it until now,” said Hajela to Scroll, shortly after winning the coveted medal. “Now that it is a reality, it feels surreal.”

Hajela, at 21, is the youngest of the four to take centre stage in Hangzhou. Riding on her companion of two years, Chinski, she accumulated 66.706 points.

It was the lowest of the four Indian riders and was not taken into consideration for the gold medal, but Hajela’s efforts early morning set the ground running for a historic few hours.

Watch, Asian Games: The Indian dressage team win the country’s first equestrian gold after 41 years

Singh followed on her horse Adrenalin Firfod and scored 68.176 points, before Chheda, riding Chemxpro Emerald bettered it with a 69.941. The latter was the individual leader at the halfway mark in the...

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