Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday felicitated India’s medal-winning eventing and dressage teams for their standout performance at the FEI Asian Equestrian Championships in Pattaya, calling their five-medal haul a breakthrough moment for the sport in the country.
The six-member contingent returned with one gold and four silver medals across team and individual events. Ashish Limaye claimed a historic individual gold in Eventing along with a team silver, while Shruti Vora secured three silver medals — two in individual Dressage and one in the team event. The squad also featured Shashank Singh Kataria and Shashank Kanmuri in Eventing and Divyakriti Singh and Gaurav Pundir in Dressage.
“Champions of Bharat! Met and felicitated the medal winners of the Asian Equestrian Championship 2025 held in Thailand. Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, Bharat is reaching new heights in global equestrian sport,” Mandaviya posted on X.
Speaking to the athletes, the minister said India’s growing footprint in disciplines where it traditionally had little presence reflected wider improvements in the sports ecosystem. “This is not the India of 10 years ago. The government will remove any hurdle between an athlete and a medal. We will build an equestrian-friendly ecosystem here so that athletes don’t have to train abroad,” he said.
Mandaviya reaffirmed the government’s commitment to setting up a dedicated quarantine centre within a year — a long-pending requirement to enable smooth movement of horses for international competitions.
Shruti Vora welcomed the move, saying the minister responded promptly to concerns raised by the athletes. “He immediately directed officials to start work on creating an equine disease-free zone. We need a full ecosystem so the entire equestrian fraternity can compete and qualify within India. Once these systems are in place, everything becomes easier,” she said.
—IANS
