Last year’s winner Sheikh Ali bin Khalid al-Thani and his Qatar teammate Bassem Hassan will not participate this year as the duo are competing in FEI championships in Europe. “We expect a stiff competition among the young riders as this is the Emir’s Sword Festival week,” said QEF President Hamad bin Abdulrahman al-Attiyah.
“However, this year’s edition will not feature the defending champion Sheikh Ali bin Khalid al-Thani, who won the Emir’s Sword last year. Sheikh Ali and Qatar’s top rider Bassem Hassan are away in Europe competing at top international events. These two riders are battling for FEI Classification points and are out of the country,” he added.
Ali al-Rumaihi, Qatar’s Olympic Games rider, said: “The championship this year will see a large participation from the national riders in all the three categories. I wish them all the success this week. This championship has seen some memorable performances and we expect something similar from Qatari riders this week.”