Dono di maggio

Asian Games Organising Committee: Indian equestrian Hriday Chheda has turned the painful setback of being disqualified from the individual final while leading the competition at the Hangzhou Asian Games into his biggest source of motivation as he prepares to lead the nation's challenge at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Hriday, who was part of the historic team that ended India's 41-year wait for equestrian gold at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, said that setback has taught him to be stronger and given him confidence and motivation to work harder in Japan.

"That is obviously a painful spot because that was a lost opportunity. It was a medal that we thought was quite close to us. But this is the sport with horses—it had no fault of mine or the horse. There are rules in our sport that protect the welfare of our horses, and a small scratch on the horse's leg got me disqualified," Hriday told IANS in an exclusive interview from Japan.