The Peninsula
Overall leader Cyrine Cherif will be up for a feisty challenge from a host of Qatari stars in the Big Tour category when the fifth round of the hugely popular Hathab Equestrian Tour kicks off at the Qatar Equestrian Federation’s (QEF) Arena today.
The French rider who has secured two podium spots in the previous rounds, leads her class with a total of 100 points. However, she is facing a lot of competition from two Qatari riders, Faleh Suwayed Al Ajami (94) and Nasser Al Ghazali (89) who are vying for the top spot.
Qatari riders Awad Alqahtani (77), Hamad Towaim Al Marri (71), Mubarak Yousef Al Rumaihi (71) and Saeed Nasser Al Qadi (70) are also giving their best to make it to the top.
Al Shaqab leads the team with 109 points, followed by Al Salam International with 107 points and Power Steel in third place with 96 points.
Mohammed Sultan Al Suwaidi leads the points tally in the Medium Tour (107), followed by Mohammed Said Haidan with 99 points and Jaber Rashid Al Amri with 94 points.
The Small Tour is dominated by the 15-year-old Qatari prodigy Khalifa Abdullah Al Khaldi who has accumulated 107 points, 18 points ahead of his closest rival, Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi who has 89 points. Tamader Said Al Marri, despite competing in three out of the four stages this season, has collected 80 points and is expected be among the top riders at a packed QEF Arena today.
In Dressage Level 1, Jessica Waldon has taken the lead with 57 points, followed by Amna Ahmed Al Saffar (55) and Al Ali Mohammed Al Marri (52) who occupy the second and third spots in the points table.
The second dressage level is led by Mohammed Salem Al Marri with 60 points. Ghanim Nasser Al Qadi is in the second position with 48 points, followed by Khalifa Hamad Al Jaber with 45.5 in the third spot.
According to the Head of Public Relations at QEF, Mohammed Al Anzi, the organising committee has lined up many surprises for the fans at the QEF Arena today and tomorrow.
Omar bin Khalid Al Mannai, Commercial Manager of Al Shahab and Deputy Chairman of the Hathab Series Organising Committee, said that the championship has achieved a remarkable success and a remarkable increase in the number of participants.
Meanwhile, Event Director, Ali Al Rumaihi, stressed that the establishment of the championship comes in line with the directives of H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), to provide greater opportunities for the Qatari riders and support the future stars.
Today, the Small Tour (100/115cm) will kick off the round 5 at 3.00pm, followed by the Medium Tour class (120/130cm) which is scheduled to begin at 5.30pm.
Tomorrow, the Future Riders event for 70/85cm category will begin at 9.00am, followed by the Future Riders 85/100cm class at 10.30am.
In the evening session tomorrow, the Open Class (115/125cm) will kick off at 3.00pm and finally the Big Tour (130/145cm) which starts at 5.30pm, will conclude the fifth round of the popular championship.
The popular show jumping and dressage series is organised by the Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) and Al Shaqab with the aim of improving the standard of horse riding among Qatari youth while spreading the awareness of horsemanship as part of Qatar’s history and tradition.
The Hathab Tour offers a staggering QR1m in prize money.