The Indian Eventing team’s challenges appear to have increased in the run up to the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games. It looks like India will end up fielding three combinations instead of four in competition. In the absence of a fourth combination, the team cannot risk a poor showing by, let alone elimination of, any of these combinations to be in the running for a podium finish.
Aahan Kumar’s leased horse, Bolivar Gio Granno, has tested positive for Piro Plasma, a parasite. What worsens the situation is the fact that reserve rider Pradeep Kumar’s horse, Lux Like Cruise, has not completed the veterinary protocols. It reflects the collective failure of the rider, his support team, and the Ad Hoc Committee governing the Equestrian Federation of India.
The importance of fielding the full complement of four combinations can never be understated as the medals are decided on the total scores of each nation’s best three combinations. India paid the price for fielding just three combinations in the last Asian Games, its hopes going up in smoke when Ashish Limaye (Willy Be Dun) was eliminated for errors during the cross country run.
Ashish Limaye (Willy Be Dun) found some redemption by winning Asian Equestrian Championships Individual Eventing gold medal and played a big role in the team winning silver medal. However, his team-mates from that competition, Shashank Kataria and Shashank Kanumuri did not secure berths in the Asian Games squad.
Young Shashank Kataria’s horse Icaro got injured in their final competition while the rider had a fall off HB Zara. Shashank Kanumuri’s nine-year-old British Hanoverian gelding, Wellfields Casino Royale, was put to sleep after a fatal accident during a competition in Norfolk on April 19 this year. Raju Singh, another talented rider, was unable to secure the Minimum Eligibility Requirement needed to make the merit list and use the lifeline gifted to him by the Ad Hoc Committee which changed the selection criteria.
Ashish Limaye (on Willy be Dun), Arjan Nagra (Colley Good Wood) and Fouaad Mirza (Camouflage) will have to step up to help India return to the Eventing podium after a forgettable 2022 Asian Games.
Selectors as coaches: Ministry in a quandary
Meanwhile, Ministry officials scrutinizing the list of coaches and support staff for the Asian Games contingent are said to be pondering if Lt. Col. Sandeep Dewan, Mrityunjay Rathore, Imtiaz Anees and Col. Amit Sinsinwar who selected the Dressage and Eventing teams could be allowed to travel with the squad to the Asian Games.
It is not known why the present dispensation chose to nominate a quartet of coaches who have not trained any of the riders selected to compete the coming edition in Tokyo. Back in 2023, a 10-member Equestrian team went to the Hangzhou Asian Games with three coaches, one each for Dressage, Eventing and Show Jumping respectively.
In any case, some athletes have been pointed out to the Ministry that none of the quartet is coach of any of the eight riders selected to compete in the Asian Games. Not everyone in the quartet is said to have coached any athlete, let alone the Asian Games riders. At a time when the Ministry officials have been quite stringent with selection of athletes, they will be hard pressed to approve four coaches for seven riders.
It has been brought to the notice of the Ministry officials that Lt. Col. Sandeep Dewan has now been made a member of the EFI Ad Hoc Committee after the resignation of chairperson Yashodhara Raje Scindia. The Ministry has to decide if it will waive its own rules that restrict National Sports Federation officials from being nominated as team officials for Asian Games.
To add to the woes of the two-member Ad Hoc Committee administering the beleaguered Equestrian Federation of India, Dressage riders Shruti Vora and Gaurav Pundir have sought the intervention of the Ministry and Indian Olympic Association to secure accreditations for the owners of their horses after the Ad Hoc Committee did not forward the changed names of the owners. The Ad Hoc Committee maintains that the accreditation was sought for the owners identified by the riders before the deadline.
Photo: Created with Google Gemini for illustration purposes only
