(From left) Endurance Techincal adviser Christian Lozano, Dressage manager Ulf Moller, Para Dressage manager Alexander Dirban, Show Jumping manager Alejandro Anlin Berdegue, CHI Al SHAQAB Event Director Omar Al Mannai, Vaulting manager Barbara Torok and Al Shaqab manager of Outreach and Communications Fahad Abdulla al-Hajri.
By Sports Reporter/Doha
The third edition of CHI Al Shaqab 2015 is set to kick off today at Al Shaqab’s state-of-the-art facilities. The Gulf region and Asia’s premier international equestrian event which will conclude on March 7 will have the Qatar Equestrian team which qualified for the 2016 Olympics, vying for top honours along with the world’s top riders.
The six-day festival will host an assortment of world-class show jumping, dressage, endurance and vaulting events with 250 riders from 33 nations, along with 255 horses, expected to compete for a total prize money of QR 7.5 million. For the first time in the Middle East and Asia, Para Dressage has been added to the competition to give an opportunity for people with special needs to participate and be a part of this prestigious international competition. A large participation of Arab teams as well as teams from the Gulf States will assemble in Doha to have a tilt at the championship.
“The previous competitions were a spectacular success and we are making sure this year’s event will be even better. However we are not resting on our laurels trying to achieve even higher standards of organization. We are concentrating our efforts on improving the overall level of the event in every possible aspect yet we are planning the whole array of activities surrounding the competition. We want the participants to feel very comfortable at CHI Al Shaqab which will help them to do their best during the competition,” CHI Al Shaqab event director Omar al-Mannai told reporters at a press briefing at Al Shaqab yesterday.
The very entertaining fan zone will be created at the event reflecting Qatar’s uniqueness and rich cultural heritage. “At the same time we want the spectators to enjoy fully everything this competition has to offer. We want to create a complete family friendly environment where whole families will come and enjoy their time.”
Al Shaqab have also displayed their social responsibility by including Para Dressage in the competition. “The overall value of CHI Al Shaqab 2015 will go far beyond that of just a sporting event. The inclusion of Para-Dressage in the competition for the first time in the Middle East and the whole of Asia serves as a message of social inclusion and equal opportunity,” al-Mannai added.
“I am very happy to welcome the equestrian world, its best representatives who will be participating as well as the members of local, regional and international media who will be covering this amazing event, and I would like to share a part of Qatar’s hospitality and our horsemanship traditions with the rest of the world.”
Dressage is aiming to form the highest level of understanding between a rider and a horse, starting at the very basics and finally achieving a top level where spectators will see a horse presented in the three gaits: walk, trot and canter, performing figures and special movements like pirouettes, piaffe and passage or lead changes in canter – without almost any visible cues. This event which is the only Five Star competition in Asia, has attracted the world’s top 23 riders from 12 countries.
Seven Olympians and various other champions are part of the line-up. London 2012 Olympics gold medalist Carl Hester brings his horse from World Equestrian Games 2014 Nip Tuck, which stunned the dressage word because of steep climb to the top level.
Sweden’s Patrik Kittel has been a regular at Doha, coming for the third time. He competed at two Olympic Games and two World Equestrian Games, bringing his top horse Watermill Scandic, now 16. Amongst the other top riders in the competition, Spain’s Morgan Barbancon Mestre, who has a ranking of 10 in the World Cup and Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, a multiple medal winners at Olympic Games and WEG.
Jumping is the best known discipline of the equestrian sport. A horse and rider have to clear a set of fences in the arena. The fastest wins – if all poles stay up. This event stages two different ‘tours’ for jumpers in Five Star and Three Star, aiming for almost Euros one million in total prize money. 47 riders with 91 horses will take part in the Five Star level, while 43 riders with 66 horses from five countries will compete in the Three Star level.
Top ranked and Olympic team gold medalist Scott Brash of Great Britain, CHI Al SHAQAB 2014 Grand Prix winner Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum and current Olympic champion Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat will be the star attraction along with the Qatar Olympic team.
Vaulting stuns the audience with gymnastics on horseback: backflips, somersaults, handstands, up to three athletes at the same time on the back of a cantering horse, presented by a lunger on a circular line. Following a spectacular show exhibition in 2013, vaulting is now an official part of the program at CHI AL SHAQAB 2015 for the second time.
“AL SHAQAB attracts the top athletes of today’s vaulting”, says CHI-vaulting manager Barbara Török. “Next to the multiple champion-pair Jasmin Lindner and Lucas Wacha and the Köln-Dünwald squad, winner in 2014, we expect two individual top stars, the World and European Champion Nicolas Andreani from France and today’s most successful female competitor, the current World Champion Joanne Eccles from Great Britain. They both choose Doha as the fitting finale to their fantastic individual careers. On top of that Doha hosts all the World Cup winners that have just finished their season with the big final in Austria, two weeks ago.
The Endurance event which will take place in Mesaieed, sees riders and horse competing over a 120 km desert course for Euros 200,000. A great emphasis is placed on horse welfare, with the winners not just judged on being the fastest but also the best condition horse and regular stops for checks by veterinarians are required.
The six-day equestrian championship is set to engage, inspire and educate the community about the fascinating variety of horsemanship – another keystone in Al Shaqab’s mission to establish itself as a global leader in breeding and show, equestrian arts and equine welfare.
CHI Al Shaqab 2015 will not only attract the local and international horse world, it will also be a family event with activities for the general public. In addition to witnessing some of the highest quality equestrian riders in the world compete. Visitors will have access to an international exhibition and multiple cultural and equine events. A spectator plaza will be comprised of more than 40 tents filled with an array of family-orientated activities, including a commercial zone, a dedicated ‘kids zone’, an international food court, and a multitude of cultural presentations and events. It is an event you would not like to miss.
