Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) is preparing to organise Qatar and Al Rayyan International Show Jumping championships at the QEF’s outdoor arena in Al Rayyan, with prizes carrying up to one million and 700,000 Qatari riyals.
The two competitions are classified under the four stars category and will be under the aegis of Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), and is one of the Arab League qualifying rounds for the next World Cup. The Qatar International Championship will be held this weekend from Thursday to Saturday, with the Al Rayyan championship be held for three days from November 23th to 25th.
The Qatari team has prepared very well for this tournament in order to achieve the best results, having had a long training stint in Europe.
Qatar successfully hosted the final round of the Longines Global Champions Tour, which concluded on Saturday at Al Shaqab, with the participation of the world’s best riders and horses. To top it all, Qatar’s Bassem Hassan Mohamed clinched the Grand Prix of Doha, the feature event to become the first Qatari to win at home soil.
QEF Secretary General Badr Mohamed al-Darwish said that the two international championships will witness the participation of the best horsemen in the region, adding that the Federation has prepared well to make these two championship competitions a success.
Al-Darwish noted that fourth and fifth rounds of the national equestrian series ‘Hathab’, organised by the QEF and Al Shaqab, will be held along with two international events.
Hathab is an initiative of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, the President of the Qatar Olympic Committee. It is aimed at improving the standard of horse riding among Qatari youths while encouraging the involvement of private stables and individual horse owners to grow awareness of horsemanship as part of Qatar‘s history and tradition.