Two days after he helped India win a landmark dressage team gold, Anush Agarwalla scripted history by winning the country’s first individual medal in dressage at the Tonglu Equestrian Centre on Thursday, September 28. Astride his nine-year-old stallion Estro, the Kolkata rider took bronze to mark a seminal moment in India’s equestrian history.
“I am still coming to terms with it. The team gold is yet to sink in and this bronze is truly special. This is what I had always wished for and visualised,” Agarwalla said. The 24-year-old is based in Borchen, Germany where he trains under 2004 Olympic champion Hubertus Schmidt. Agarwalla took up equestrian aged eight when his parents enrolled him in Kolkata’s Tollygunge Club. “Actually, my parents wanted the club membership and rules stated that at least one member of the family ought to play a sport at the club. So, I was enrolled in equestrian classes there.” Three years on, he started making weekend trips to Delhi to train but soon realised it wasn’t yielding tangible results. In 2017, he shiftedto Germany to train under Schmidt. “That was a big, life-changing decision. There were times when I felt I was not good enough, but somehow I persisted. All that has paid dividends,” he said. Agarwalla’s day began with a text to his mother, “Today is going to be special”. Source: HT