China's Alex Hua Tian defends Asian Games eventing title

TOKYO, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Olympic rider Alex Hua Tian successfully defended his individual eventing title at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, overcoming heavy rain to finish on 26.90 penalty points after a clear cross-country round.

The 36-year-old, riding Manjushri, also known as Bodhi (Miaojixiang), entered the final phase in first place after dressage and show jumping and maintained his lead without adding any penalties in the cross-country finale.

Hua, who posted the best score in dressage and a clear round in show jumping, completed the cross-country course without penalty to secure his second consecutive Asian Games individual title. He finished 3.20 points clear of Thailand's Woraphat Sittiju, while Japan's Yoshiaki Oiwa took bronze.

"I'm just very relieved, mainly," Hua said after the competition. "Obviously, there's some pressure coming into a championship when you're defending a gold medal, but also bringing such a good horse like Miaojixiang."

"The most important thing is that I didn't let the team down, so I'm very, very, very happy about that," he added.

In the team event, Thailand won gold with 109.90 penalty points, followed by Japan on 115.20 and South Korea on 143.50. Hong Kong, China finished fourth on 144.70.

China missed out on a team medal after being reduced to three combinations from its original four following the withdrawal of Sun Huadong and Cadorico. With no discard score available, China had no margin for error. Shu Yuying and Diabolo D'ems Aa were eliminated in the final phase, while Shao Han and Suez Air finished on 50.50 penalty points and Hua completed the cross-country phase clear. The elimination left China with 1,050.50 penalty points overall.

Hua's gold gave China back-to-back Asian Games titles in the individual eventing competition following his victory in Hangzhou in 2023.