The Indian equestrian federation (EFI) has announced the team that will represent India at the 2026 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan, on 25 - 27 September 2026.
India is the team title defender. Although the Asian Games are held in a mixed format with small and big tour classes, India will be sending four small tour riders to Tokyo.
The Team
The Indian dressage team includes
- Shruti Vora - Magnanimous
- Guarav Pundir - Milli
- Jai Sud - Goofy la Perla
- Hriday Chheda - Dono di Maggio OLD
The first reserve is Anush Agarwalla (Straight Horse Floriana) and the second reserve is Sudipti Hajela (Biden).
The Committees Involved
The "Ad Hoc Committee of the EFI" was in charge of the team selection. The official team selection document states that the "athletes have been selected based on the recommendation of the respective selection committees after going through results posted by the probables and as per the selection criteria for the Asian Games 2026."
The dressage selection committee includes Kapil Modi, Sandeep Dewan, and Jai Rathore under the leadership of H.H. Yashodhara Raje Scindia (chair).
The Ad Hoc committee includes Yashodhara Raje Scindia, alongside Francisco Lima and Vidushpat Singhania.
Indian riders were responsible for informing their own national federation that they were going to compete in a CDI. They had "to intimate the EFI "by SMS, email or WhatsApp, at its official address / number(s) at least seven days (07) prior to the date of first horse inspection for each Trial."
Chasing Scores
They had to fulfil the FEI MER requirement (2x 62% by the ground jury in a PSG and/or Intermediaire I at two different CDI's) as well as their nationally set MER: 66% in a PSG + mandatory participating in the Inter I and Kur at that event.
Several Indian riders made big changes in trainers at the start of the year to re-align their training and goals looking towards the future. India currently has 20 active FEI Dressage Athletes registered with the FEI, but only 14 have been actually competing internationally in 2026.
How Does India Select?
The website of the Indian Equestrian Federation does not list the official document with their team selection criteria so for the outsider it is unclear by which standards the selection committee operated. Eurodressage reached out to the EFI and received no reply.
However, the official selection criteria document obtained cited that six riders, to be called Probables, will be short-listed "on the basis of comparative merit of each horse–rider combination. To be eligible for inclusion in the list of probables, a combination must achieve at least one (1) valid MER within the prescribed limits, and a minimum of one (01) attempt out of three (3) competitions is compulsory."
In Dressage, the highest cumulative score will decide merit. These six probables shall be shortlisted based on MER/Results in selection trials, the three/four riders with the leading scores (highest in Dressage) shall be selected as the final Team India nominees for each discipline based on the merit.
Small Tour Tests
- Team Competition & 1st Individual Qualifier Competition:
- FEI Prix St Georges: 66%
- 2nd Individual Qualifier Competition:
- FEI Intermediate-I: Participate
- Individual Final Competition:
- FEI Intermediate I Freestyle: Participate
EFI further details, "for comparative merit, the best two valid results from MER level competitions will be taken into account. Riders will be ranked on the basis of the highest cumulative percentage scores across these two results. The comparison will first be made between those combinations who have achieved two MERs, then those who have achieved only one MER each. While considering the composition of the team, all combinations who have attained MERs in Individual category will be placed higher in merit over those who have attained MERs in the Team category only."
However from looking at the nominated team riders and reserves, their Intermediaire I and even freestyle score seem to have been taken into consideration to decide merit.
Scoring Trend of Indian Riders
To gauge the scoring strength of the Indian riders by the most important test, the Prix St Georges, Eurodressage took a look at the 2026 scores of the six named riders:
Shruti Vora left trainer Helen Langehanenberg for British based Becky Moody and started earlier in the season than most Indians. She became the second highest scoring Indian rider this year. Aboard Grand Prix horse Magnanimous she competed at the CDI Lier (66.235%), Hartpury (69.412%), Hickstead (69.853%) and Wellington Heckfield (68.725%). (Those 4 PSG scores averaged is 68,556)%
Ton de Ridder's student Jai Sud began his campaign a little earlier in the season with his first three CDI starts at the Sunshine Tour in Jerez and Vejer de la Frontera, where he rode Goofy La Perla to 65.088%, 67.157%, and 68.177%. He then did three more in Mariakalnok (67.549%), Olomouc (67.549%) and Lipica (68.412%). (Average of 67,322%)
Hriday Chheda, who competed Dono di Maggio at three CDI's within three weeks time (21 May - 7 June), went to Olomouc (62.108%), Lipica (66.912%) and Goscisow (66.814%). (Average of 65,286%)
Reserves or Coming Close to Team Selection
Anush Agarwalla was named reserve. He competed Straight Horse Floriana at probably the most competitive shows of all Indian riders with very consistent results, i.e. in Lier CDI (67.912%), Tolbert (68.725%), Hagen (70.941%) and Lier CDIO (67.294%). (Average of 68,718%). Agarwalla was the only Indian rider to achieve a 70% mark this season in a PSG.
Divyakriti Singh, who represented India at the 2023 Asian Games, misssed out on team selection despite competing three horses: Sir Rheingold, Improver, and Adrenalin Firfod. With Sir Rheingold she went to Exloo (64.314%), St. Margarethen (63.578%), Lipica (67.059%), and Gosciszow (67.892%). (Average of 65,710%). With Adrenalin Firfod she did two shows: Lier (65.471%) and Lipica (66.588%).
The other Indian riders did not get close enough to the 66% mark that seemed to put them up for team consideration. After a two-year break from CDI showing Nadia Haridass returned in 2026 with three horses. She went to three CDI's between April and May, showing Sonnentanz in Murcia (63.873%), Alter do Chao (61.677%), and Lipica (63.706). Her second horse Runa HE scored 66.275% 59.706% and 64.461% in Murcia, Alter and Las Cadenas.
Photo © FEI - Astrid Appels - private
Related Links
Eurodressage coverage of the 2026 Asian Games
Historic Gold for India at the 2023 Asian Games
Indian Team Selected for 2023 Asian Games