Asian Games gold medallist Hriday Chheda toils in French stables
The roaring crowd, countless flashes of camera, a gold medal around the neck, and a wide grin – the bespectacled Hriday Chheda was the toast of India nearly two years back. Hriday was the part of India’s historic gold medal winning equestrian dressage team at the delayed 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. Riding atop the Chemxpro Emerald, a horse brought on lease just months before the continental Games, Chheda led the field individually at the half-way mark. Eventually, Hriday and Chemxpro Emerald were the second-best performers in the four-member Indian team, notching up a score of 69.941, only behind Anush Agarwalla and Etro’s 71.088 points. He returned home to a grand welcome. Young riders at the Amateur Riders Club, Hriday’s base in Mumbai, mobbed him eager to tap into his experience. He met the Prime Minister, was honoured by the state and central governments. For the next few months, life was in a fast lane. But everything soon fell back to normal. “I mean, my life hasn’t changed in anyway,” Hriday quipped in a conversation …
