Dual gold medallist Ramzy Al Duhami and Bayard V Devilla. By FEI |
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia impressively dominated the jumping competitions at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, gaining team gold and the top individual medal. Gold medallist Ramzy Al Duhami joined Khaled Al Eid, HRH Prince Moteb Al Saud and Abdullah Al Sharbatly to take the team title ahead of the United Arab Emirates who pipped Hong Kong, China, in a thrilling third-round jump-off against the clock.
An individual bronze for 2000 Olympic bronze medallist Khalid Al Eid, who had two fences down in the three-horse decider, increased Saudi's medal tally, while the UAE celebrated Sheikha Latifah Al Maktoums second silver medal of the games. She finished fractionally behind Ramzy Al Duhami in the jump-off.
Straight into the lead
With four clears in the first round, the talented and experienced Saudi team went straight into the lead while the UAE carried three faults, collected by Sheikha Latifah (Kalaska de Semily) when both Sheikh Majid Al Qasimi (Co-Jack) and Ahmed Al Junaibi (Picobello Wodiena) left the course intact. Fourth-line rider Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum (Dubai's Pride) provided the discount eight-fault score.
The Korean team was lying third at the half-way stage with just five faults on the board. But the Hong Kong quartet were only one point further adrift and when the Koreans faltered second time out, Hong Kong's five additional penalties left them tying for the silver medal with the UAE on 11 faults.
The defending champions from Saudi Arabia were already clear victors as both Ramzy Al Duhami (Bayard V Devilla T) and Khalid Al Eid (Presley Boy) kept a clean sheet so the only faults they had to count were the four collected by Abdullah Al Sharbatly (Melodie Ardente), who launched himself onto centre stage when claiming individual silver at the recent Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA.
Two-nation clash
Just three riders from each side lined out in the two-nation clash for the silver medal and the UAE looked vulnerable when pathfinder Sheikha Latifah picked up four faults. However, Sheikh Al Qasimi was clear and when Sheikha Latifah's 18-year-old brother Sheikh Rashid returned with just a single time fault, their five-fault total proved plenty good enough to give them the advantage as Hong Kong's Patrick Lam (JC Tilburg) and Jacqueline Lai (Capone) each had a fence down, while Samantha Lam picked up a very expensive 16 faults with JC Crunship.
Ramzy Al Duhami was delighted with the Saudi win but complimented the opposition.
"Both the Hong Kong team and the UAE are strong competitors which added to the pressure," he said. "We had even more pressure because our Prince (HRH Prince Nawaf) was present, but we tried hard to focus in each round. We hoped for the best and we did our very best."
And it was an emotional moment for silver medallist Sheikha Latifah
"I'm crying because I am so happy," she said, although she admitted that she was very nervous when she realised there would be a jump-off for the silver.
Sheikh Majid, who clinched that silver with his foot-perfect tour of the 13-fence jump-off track, pointed out that the UAE was a relatively young and inexperienced side.
"But we've worked hard to be here," said the 25-year-old rider.
And it was the ideal result for the country that took bronze in Doha, Qatar, four years ago as they stepped up to the mark and improved on that result. It was also quite an achievement for the bronze medal winners from Hong Kong who were taking their first medals at the Asian Games.
Individual final
Of the 24 starters in the individual final, just six found the key to the first-round track, and when that dwindled to just three second time out, a thrilling finale was guaranteed.
Ramzy Al Duhami's time of 48.52 seconds proved the winning one when Sheikha Latifah completed Australia'n designer John Vallance's course just 0.21 seconds slower. When Presley Boy had both the first and last fences down, Kahlid Al Eid had to settle for bronze.
"In the jump-off I had to give it a go because I had some of the best riders in the world behind me," he said. "The first down was a small mistake, just a slight touch, but the last fence down was a bigger mistake. I changed my mind for the distance and that was wrong."
Sheika Latifah was much more relaxed going into the final jump-off.
"I felt no stress because I already knew that I had medal," she said. "We had a strong competition today with world-class riders and just to be among them was an honour for me".
Individual champion
"I feel happy, excited and honoured to win this championship," said the newly-crowned individual champion Ramzy Al Duhami . "My horse did a super job, which makes me very happy. He jumped well from the beginning.
"Later I was worried that he would be a little tired and things would become difficult for him, but he still wanted to jump. I think he is ready for bigger world competitions now, even though he is still quite young."
Groundbreaking championships
The equestrian competitions at these Asian Games were ground-breaking as, for the first time in 60 years, horses were permitted to travel in and out of the Chinese mainland due to stringent new veterinary procedures. Previously horses could enter China, but would not be permitted to return to the international equine community due to fears of disease-spread.
The facilities provided by the Asian Games organisers were greatly appreciated by the equestrian competitors and UAE coach Dietmar Gugler said: "we were surprised when we arrived last week. The stables and the footing are excellent, which is very important, and the courses were designed very well so the riders and horses performed well."
And Saudi Arabian coach Sami Al Duhami agreed.
"At first I had doubts about whether we should come to the Asian Games because the biggest challenge was how to get the horses to Guangzhou, but that turned out successfully," he said. "The facilities here are great and the horses are well taken care of. I think equestrian sport in Asia will grow from here."
For full results, click here
No comments:
Post a Comment