India finish fifth in equestrian

Indian riders displayed shoddy horsmanship and finished fifth in the team dressage event in the equestrian competition of the 14th Asian Games on Tuesday.

The team, comprising Sunil Shiv Das, Mritunjay Rathore, Vishal Bishnoi and Sandeep Dewan, aggregated only 2849 points.

Though Das, riding 'Rampage', was the pick among the Indian quartret, with a score of 995, Rathore, astride 'Tusker' (914), Bishnoi, astride 'Tanala' (853) and Dewan, on 'Tamara' (940) flopped.

The strong Korean team, comprising Jung-Kyun Suh, Chang Moo shin, Jung Keun Kim and Jun Sang Choi, claimed the golden honour with a total of 3493.

The Japanese team of Yuriko Miyoshi, Masumi Yokokawa, Hiroyuki Kitahara and Naoko Hitomi took the silver medal with a tally of 3431 points.

Thailand was ahead of India in fourth place, with 3101 points.