Anush Agarwalla Not Selected for the 2026 Asian Games – Dressage Rider Calls It a Betrayal

Several Indian newspapers have confirmed the outcome of the trial. On Instagram, Anush Agarwalla vented his frustration: “The dream of the 2026 Asian Games is officially over. Words cannot describe the pain and emptiness I’m feeling right now. I have always represented India with incredible pride, and I always will. But this time, I am deeply hurt—not because I lost, but because I didn’t even have the chance to compete in the first place.”

He said he can handle losses in sports. “But this feels more like a scam. Accepting a result doesn’t mean I have to believe in it.”

He continued: “Although I reached out to the federation, the IOA (Indian Olympic Association), and the ministry, no effort was made to investigate what happened. I can only hope that no athlete will ever have to go through something like this again. If India wants to become a true sporting nation, its athletes deserve a system that is fair and transparent and that respects the years of hard work that go into every opportunity.”

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Named Only as a Reserve

On paper, Anush Agarwalla had the best chance of representing India at the Asian Games. In June, when the nominations were announced, he was the top Indian rider in the FEI’s “Small Tour” ranking, which can be tracked in the FEI database. In addition, the 26-year-old from Kolkata had won team gold and individual bronze in dressage at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou and became the first Indian dressage rider ever to qualify for the Olympic Games (Paris 2024).

But when the ad hoc committee of the Indian EFI nominated the team for Aichi-Nagoya in June, it listed Agarwalla only as the first alternate and Sudipti Hajela as the second alternate. Instead, Shruti Vora, Gaurav Pundir, Jai Sud, and Hriday Chheda were named to the team.

As a result, both Agarwalla and Hajela filed lawsuits. To understand Agarwalla’s motives, it is worth comparing the rankings and the tournaments in which they were achieved.

Ranking Comparison

: The team competition at the Asian Games is held in a Prix St. Georges, the individual competition in an Intermédiaire I, and the third medal is awarded in a freestyle at the Inter I level. Anush Agarwalla has competed in seven international tournaments this year with his Asian Games hopeful, Straight Horse Floriana, achieving scores of over 70 percent in the Prix St. Georges in Hagen, among other results.

Vora and Agarwalla Face Off

There was only one direct matchup between Agarwalla and the confirmed team riders. In Lier, Agarwalla and his Asian Games hopeful, Straight Horse Floriana, faced off against Shruti Vora on Magnanimous, who has also enjoyed Grand Prix success with Helen Langehanenberg.

Agarwalla placed eighth in the St. Georges (67.912) and fourth in the Intermédiaire I (68.853) in Lier. Vora placed 21st in the Prix St. Georges (66.235 percent) and 14th in the Intermédiaire I (65.441).

An overview of the Prix St. Georges results

. Before her nomination, Anush Agarwalla also competed in Tolbert (5th place in the PSG, 68.725) and in Hagen (2nd place in the PSG, 70.941), as well as once more in Lier (11th place in the PSG, 67.294).

After Lier, Shruti Vora competed only in English CDIs—at Hartpury, Hickstead, and Hackfield. There, in the Prix St. Georges classes—which count toward the team medals—she placed third (69.412), second (69.853), and fifth (68.725).

Gaurav Pundir and Milli competed in three CDIs at Estonian show venues, placing fourth in Pärnu in May (67.157), second (68.186) on May 21, and first (67.451) on May 26 in Perila. There were seven riders competing at the first event in Perila and two at the second.

Jai Sud rode Goofy la Perla in seven international competitions prior to the nomination: twice in Jerez de la Frontera, once in Vejer de la Frontera, and then in Mariakalnok, Olomouc, and Lipica. In the Prix St. Georges classes, he placed sixth (65.088), sixth (67.157), second (68.177), sixth (67.549), third (67.549), and most recently first (68.412).

Hriday Chheda is nominated with the now 19-year-old Dono di Maggio OLD, who, among other achievements, represented Great Britain at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon with Emile Faurie in the saddle. In early 2025, Hriday Chheda took over the gelding from Theodora Livanos, who had used him as a Grand Prix training horse. With Chheda, Dono di Maggio also competed this year in Olomouc (14th place, 62.108), then in Lipica (third place, 66.912), in Gosciszow, Poland (7th, 66.814) and in Verolanuova, Italy (3rd, 68.333).

Sudipti Hajela, nominated as the second reserve, first presented her eight-year-old stallion Biden—who is still officially owned by Helgstrand Dressage—in the Prix St. Georges in Aachen (10th, 65.441), then in Lier (65.265), in Gosciszow, Poland, where she left Chheda well behind in third place (68.971), and in Verolanuova (sixth, 67.108), where Chheda was once again significantly better.

Legal Battle Fails

The lawsuit filed by Agarwalla and Hajela was unsuccessful. The Delhi High Court declined to intervene in July, and the Supreme Court subsequently dismissed the lawsuits—stating in its reasoning that courts generally exercise restraint when it comes to nomination decisions in individual sports. The Ministry of Sports also stood by its position in August and, despite “mounting pressure,” upheld the existing selection criteria, which require athletes to demonstrate a “realistic chance of winning a medal.”

Personal animosity?

Given the results Agarwalla has achieved, it’s clear that he could have been of immense value to the team. In June, he told Eurodressage that he had immediately raised concerns with the federation regarding the composition of the ad hoc committee tasked with the nomination, because he considered one of the committee members to be biased. The person in question was Kapil Modi, with whom Agarwalla had ridden for several years before moving to Germany and continuing to be coached by Hubertus Schmidt. Agarwalla stated at the time that Modi had always harbored a personal animosity toward him.

However, the association reassured him and explained that he had nothing to worry about, as the selection would be based solely on the results achieved in competition. We have asked the association for a statement.

A Look Toward Los Angeles

Following the final rejection, Agarwalla announced he would be taking a break from the sport. His goal remains the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, for which he hopes to qualify with his horse Floriana. Meanwhile, he is calling on the federation and the ministry to establish a more transparent system—so that other athletes do not have to go through what he is currently experiencing.