The three-member Indian Eventing team slipped to third position behind Thailand after the Cross Country Test in the FEI Asian Championships Pattaya 2025 in the Thailand Polo & Equestrian Club in Pattaya on Tuesday. There was good news for the Ashish Limaye-Willy Be Dun combine as it rose from third place to second in the individual competition.
The Germany-based Ashish Limaye on Willy Be Dun and the Australia-based Shashank Singh Kataria on Bullseye delivered flawless tests on the 3928m-long course which had 22 obstacles, six of which were combination jumps. The UK-based Shashank Kanumuri and Wellfields Casino Royale copped 22 penalties for breaking two frangible obstacles on combination jumps.
Shashank Kanumuri, 20, and his 8-year-old British Hanoverian Horse finished 12 seconds inside the 7 minute 34 seconds time limit for the test in what is only their sixth competition together. Their pace may have been a reason for them to break two fences in quick succession just after a steep compulsory passage that had a bearing on the combination jumps.
With only three rider-horse combinations entered for the Eventing competition, India will be hard pressed to overcome the 15.4 point gap with the second-placed Thailand when the rider-horse combinations show up in the Jumping arena on Wednesday. Besides maintaining a clean slate, Thailand team will have to make several mistakes to lose their grip on the silver medal.
Three of Thailand’s four combinations returned good Cross Country tests. In fact, Korntawat Samran-B Grimm Billy Elmy vaulted to the top of the individual charts with a clean Cross Country round. Woraphat Sitt (on B Grimm Uster de Chanay) and Weerapat Pitakanonda (B Grimm Carnival March) earned slight time penalites but not to impact their team’s second spot.
The standings (after Cross Country test):
Team: 1. Hong Kong 101.3; 2. Thailand 105.6; 3. India 121.0.
Individual: 1. Korntawat Samran (Thailand) on B.Grimm Billy Elmy 28.8; 2. Ashish Limaye (India) on Willy Be Dun 29.4; 3. Alex Hua Tian (China) on Manjushri 29.6; 8. Shashank Singh Kataria (India) on Bullseye 37.9; 11. Shashank Kanumuri (India) on Wellfields Casino Royale 53.7.
Photo of Ashish Limaye-Willy Be Dun: Screengrab from official live stream
