Jammu, Dec 19: With country earning its gold medal in equestrian event after 41 years in Asian Games held in Hangzhou in September this year, Jammu & Kashmir also finds itself in the race to be part of the team in few years from now as 14-year-old Rachit Gupta has been hogging the headlines for quite some time now.
It is for the first time in the history of the J&K that athlete has taken to the equestrian sport and broken the jinx. Slowly but steadily, Rachit is earning recognition for his set of skills and has earned a good reputation among his contemporaries.
Recently Rachit Gupta qualified for Junior National Equestrian Championship-2023, slated to be held in Agram Riding and Polo Academy Bengaluru, Karnataka in a few days from now.
Meanwhile, the J&K Sports Council in its reach out programme to the talented athletes had recommended him for the trails in absence of the game specific association in the Union Territory.
This was one of the measures taken to patronize young athletes excelling at various level of competitions to prove their mettle at national and international level platforms.
Advisor to Lieutenant Governor R.R Bhatnagar congratulated Rachit for taking J&K to the equestrian sports map of the country and sent his best wishes for the national championship.
Congratulating the budding athlete, Secretary J&K Sports Council Sarmad Hafeez said that the popularity of the sports is growing in the region and with Rachit taking to the equestrian sports, he may inspire others to pursue this particular sport and in future country may even get the best rider from the J&K.
Congratulating the budding equestrian athlete, he said that council had recommend for his participation as a nominee of J&K in future national level competitions and shall lend all possible support to him to excel in the field of equestrian sports.
Rachit Gupta, who is a student at Mayo College, Ajmer has been very passionate about the horse riding since very young age and actively started pursuing since eight-year-old when he joined the Mayo College, Ajmer.
While participating in several horse-riding events, the young athlete was widely acclaimed for his riding skills. He has bagged many medals and titles during all this time.
Rachit is placed at the serial No 26 with Rider ID 102087 and is competing is the Children-I Show Jumping category in the event.
