INDIA NEWS
Oct 1-15, 2023 - Vol 4, Issue 5
Asian Games: Son lives up to his father’s prophecy as India wins historic gold in Team Dressage in equestrian tough event and very challenging and all four of us gave it our best to make it possible," said the 25-year-old rider from Pune. He said
Hangzhou, Sep 26 (IANS) A businessman with an interest in interiors, Vipul Chheda has no technical knowledge of equestrian sports or dressage competition. The only reason he follows horses and horse riders is that his son Hriday is an equestrian player and represents the country in the Asian Games in Hangzhou. That was the reason why he was at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport in Mumbai on September 20 night -- to board a flight to China to be in Ningbo and watch his son participate in the dressage competitions. "Mark my word, my son will win a medal in the Asian Games," said Vipul Chheda as he waited in the queue to get to the check-in counter. His prophecy came good and Hriday along with teammates Anush Agarwalla, Sudipti Hajela and Divyakriti Singh made history when they won the gold medal in the Dressage Team event -- the first-ever gold medal in Dressage and the first medal in Dressage in four decades. India had won a bronze medal in the Dressage Team event way back in 1982 when the sport made its Asian Games debut in New Delhi. "My father is an eternal optimist, He doesn't know much about the technicalities of Equestrian or of Dressage," Hriday told IANS on Tuesday after playing a key role in the team's golden triumph. "Like all parents, he always wants the best of me and that's why he must have said that. It was a very
Though his father may not know much about equestrian sport, Hriday says Vipul has been his most ardent supporter from the day he decided to take up equestrian as his profession. "My father has always supported me 100% from day one. Equestrian is a very costly sport and you can't do without support from your family. He never objected to me taking up riding, he has been interested in horses. It has been difficult for me, it needed a lot of hard work, to be in Europe, working with horses, learning dressage and competing in events there," said Hriday, who initially took up dressage and show jumping before shifting to the former. On their golden triumph on Tuesday, Hriday said all of them were confident of doing well and did their best from the first rider out in the morning. "We had our first rider out after 8 a.m. and after that, everyone just remained focused on doing our best. It is a huge achievement for all of us to win this medal after 42 years," he said. "Sudipti went out first and then Divyakriti followed by Anush and me. At 25, I am the oldest among them and I know how much handwork all four of us have put in," he said. Hriday seconded his teammates when they said that they were never in doubt about winning the medal but added that it was an incredibly tough challenge. All four of them will return to the Tonglu Equestrian Centre on Wednesday to compete in the Dressage Individual competition
in which they have qualified. Hriday is confident that they will win medals in Individual Dressage too.
Hangzhou, Sep 27 (IANS) Rhythm Sangwan, Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh came up with a superb performance to take gold in the Women's 25m Pistol Team competition while the team of Sift Kaur Samra, Ashi Chouksey and Mannini Kaushik claimed a silver medal in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions as India continued to reap rich rewards at the shooting ranges here at Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre on Wednesday. These were India's sixth and seventh medals from the
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However, it was the Women's 25m Pistol Team that took the spotlight on Wednesday morning as the team of Manu, Rhythm and Esha continued from where they had left off at the end of the first phase on Tuesday and covered themselves in glory with a good performance in Rapid fire section. The Indians were already in the lead after the precision round on Tuesday. They finished with a combined score of 1759, finishing ahead of China, who had a score of 1756
Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre in the 19th Asian Games here on Wednesday. With a score of 469.6, Sift set a new World Record, a new Asian Games record and also the Asian Record to finish on the top in one of the most difficult of the shooting competitions as it tests the shooter's abilities in kneeling, prone and standing positions.
Hriday hoped that their gold medal would get more attention from the authorities for equestrian sports and it would get the support that it deserved.
He did not agree that dressage as an event was the most difficult of all equestrian events because of the high degree of coordination required between the rider and horse as they perform a series of predetermined movements, known as ‘figures’ or “movements” in an arena of 20x60 metres. In all competitions, the horse has to show the three paces: walk, trot and canter as well as smooth transitions within and between the 12 lettered markers placed symmetrically in the arena. "I would not like to go into which one is more difficult, all of them are tough. Dressage is a little bit more technical but others have their own challenges like if you make a mistake, you can fall off the horse," he said. The four riders must definitely be hoping that their victory in Hangzhou not only gets support for the sport from all quarters, it also inspires youngsters to take up equestrian sport.
Asian Games: India bags gold in Women’s 25m Pistol shooting; silver in Women’s 50m Rifle 3-positions shooting ranges in three days of competition and they are expecting more on Wednesday with Indian shooters in medal contention in Indian competitions in both women's 25m Pistol and 50m Rifle 3-Positions. The shotgun shooters are going through the second phase of their competitions in the men's and women's skeet events.
Asian Games: Sift Kaur Samra bags gold for India in 50m rifle 3-position; Ashi claims bronze
More attention to equestrian sports
"Our federation (Equestrian Federation of India) has gone through a lot of turmoil recently (because of governance issues). I just hope that things will get better soon. I hope that we winning the first-ever gold in dressage and a medal in dressage after such a long gap will get equestrian support from all quarters. It is a very costly sport and players need all the support that they can get," said Hriday.
with Korea taking the bronze medal with a score of 1742. At the end of the first day of precision shooting, the Indians had a total of 887 as compared to 874 of the Chinese. On Wednesday, the Indians complied a score of 883 while the Chinese shot 882 as they gave the Indians a tough fight. In the end, the big advantage the Indians gained on the first day --especially in the opening series in which they bagged 292 points while the Chinese could manage only 288 -- of the two-day competition proved enough for them to claim the top spot and the gold medal. Earlier, it was the ball was set rolling in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-position by Sift, Ashi and Mannini who claimed a silver medal in the Team competition. The Indian team finished with a total of 1764 points to finish behind the Chinese team.
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SPORTS
Sift broke the previous world record of 467.0 held by Seonaid McIntosh of Great Britain, who set the mark at the ISSF World Cup in Baku in May this year.
Hangzhou, Sep 27 (IANS) India's Sift Kaur Samra came up with a record-breaking performance to claim the gold medal in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions Individual competition at the
India's Ashi Chouksey (451.9) claimed the bronze medal in this category finishing behind China's Qiongyue Zhang (462.3). Earlier, Sift and Ashi along with teammate Mannini Koushik had won silver medal in the Women's 50m Rifle 3-positions Team event.
Asian Games: It will be a different kind of challenge, says Neeraj Chopra lineup to take photographs and selfies with him. Earlier, Chopra was eager to get photos clicked with cricketers, treated as demigods in India. Now, even the cricketers are eager to get photos clicked with him as did the Indian men's cricket team in the Asian Games village in Hangzhou on Friday. Hangzhou, Sep 30 (IANS) Neeraj Chopra started his journey towards greatness in athletics at the Asian Games in 2018 in Jakarta. It was the year that Chopra won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and followed it up by bagging the gold at the Asian Games in Jakarta. As he returns to the Asian Games once again in the 19th edition at Hangzhou, life has totally transformed for the 25-yearold from Sonipat in Haryana. In his journey so far, Chopra has won the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, won the Diamond League Final in 2022 and this year fulfilled his dream by winning the title in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. So, as he gets ready to defend the Asian Games title that he won in Jakarta, a lot of other things have also changed for Chopra. "When I was participating in Jakarta, I had no pressure, nobody expected a lot from Games Village, do my stuff and enjoy myself," he said. Now Chopra carries the expectations of the entire nation, people expect him to win every time he steps up on the runway to throw his javelin, everyone in the athletics team looks up to him and people including other participating sportspersons
"Now the cricketers are also part of the Games like these. Last year the women's team played in the Commonwealth Games and now both the men's and women's teams are here in Hangzhou. There are attempts to make it part of the Olympics too. So, it feels nice to meet them here. I felt very good after meeting them yesterday. I have always said the athletes' village setup has a lot of positive effects on athletes. In the village, you will feel energised even if you have not had a good training session," said Neeraj Chopra during a press conference at the Athletes Village in Hangzhou on Saturday. Life certainly has come full circle for Neeraj Chopra. He has now become a global superstar in athletics. "Yes, it was a very good event for me, I had a good throw of 88.06. But things have changed a lot since then, I have fulfilled some of my dreams -- it was my dream to win an Olympic medal, which I did. Winning the World Championship was also a dream that I fulfilled," Chopra said. But Chopra says what he has learned throughout this journey is to remain humble, talk politely with everyone and take each day as it comes, be ready for the new challenges. He knows that fame can come and go, and the relationships he builds with people will stay forever.
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