Defending individual champion Alex Hua Tian and Manjushri head the field after dressage at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya, with the equestrian competition being staged in Tokyo.
The pair posted 26.9 penalties, 2.8 clear of Thailand’s Korntawat Samran and Billy Elmy on 29.7. Japan’s Toshiyuki Tanaka and Talma D’Allou sit third on 29.9, with just 3.5 penalties covering the top five, meaning Hua Tian’s advantage stands at less than one showjumping rail.
Manjushri, the nine-year-old gelding Hua Tian is riding in Tokyo, finished fourth at last year’s FEI Asian Championships in Pattaya and won the CCI3*-S at Alnwick in July on his dressage score, form that underlines why China’s title defence opens with him at the top.
“I’ve brought a very competitive horse,” Hua Tian said. “He’s only nine years old, but he’s already competing at four-star level and he’s always been very reliable. I’m here to win an individual medal. Whether it’s gold, silver or bronze depends on what happens, but I hope we do a good job.”
Japan placed all four of its eventing combinations inside the top eight on home soil: Tanaka third, Ryo Murata and Brookpark Vikenti fifth on 30.4, Yoshiaki Oiwa and Ottawa des Desig seventh on 31.3, and Kazuma Tomoto and Fer de Lance eighth on 31.6. The host nation leads the team standings on 91.6, 3.5 ahead of Thailand on 95.1. Hong Kong, China sit third on 97.0, while defending team champion China are fourth on 103.7 after the withdrawal of Huadong Sun and Cadorico left the squad without a discard score.
Typhoon Dujuan had other ideas about how the week would unfold, sweeping heavy rain and strong winds through the region in the build-up and forcing organisers to rework the schedule so ground staff could get the cross-country course back into shape. The storm had blown itself out by Tuesday morning, and competitors arrived at the Equestrian Park to find bright sunshine and rising heat in its place, a complete reversal from the conditions that had caused the disruption in the first place.
That disruption has reshaped the week ahead. Showjumping follows dressage later on Tuesday, but cross-country has been pushed back to Wednesday, flipping the usual championship order so that it now decides the medals rather than concluding the competition. The task falls to Polish course designer Marcin Konarski, whose 3,640m track carries 24 obstacles and 30 jumping efforts, with an optimum time of seven minutes.
“I think Marcin has done an excellent and very interesting job. The time and technicality are going to be influential, and I think the ground could be very influential,” Hua Tian said. “All of those things coming together will put a lot of pressure on the Athletes, especially the ones who want to win. I think it’s an open competition and it will be interesting and exciting all the way to the end.”
Feature image: Alex Hua Tian (CHN) and Manjushri compete during the Eventing dressage competition at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games © Yusuke Nakanishi Photography
