Jumaa pips Al Qadi in thrilling Medium Tour round

Doha, Qatar: Qatari rider Saeed Hamad Jumaa prevailed over seasoned campaigner Saeed Nasser Al Qadi by a fraction of a second to clinch the Medium Tour title in the seventh round of the Longines Hathab Equestrian Tour yesterday.

At the Qatar Equestrian Federation’s Outdoor Arena, Jumaa and his 13-year-old bay mare Ambre De Beaufour finished the first phase in the 130/135cm class in 45.87 secs before clocking a time of 30.07 - one-hundredth of a second faster than his closest rival Saeed in the final phase. Jumaa made no errors during both of the runs.

Al Qadi guided his nine-year-old mare Carrera Denfer in Saeed Nasser Al Qadi in two flawless routines which registered times of 50.16 and 30.08 as he finished second ahead of Salmeen Sultan Al Suwaidi, who rode

Fiori LS. Al Suwaidi and the 14-year-old mare clocked times of 43.42 and 30.21 in the two phases as he booked the remaining spot on the podium.

The podium winners of the Medium Tour team event pose for a photograph with officials.

Meanwhile, Juma was also part of Team Al Salam Store, who won the Medium Tour team event. Hamad Nasser Al Qadi (Happy Tina) and Mohammed Abdulla Juma (Hurry Up) were his teammates.

NK Café finished second in the team competition, while Alfardan came third.

Earlier, popular rider Mohammed Saeed Haidan won the Small Tour class with his grey mare Miss Chili.

The duo completed the round in 49.36 without making any errors, while Hidiene, with Faris Saad Al Qahtani in the saddle, finished second fastest, clocking a time of 52.40. Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi completed the podium after finishing the task in 53.57 astride Uppsala Du Theil.

Mohammed Abdulla Al Marri (Sita) and Abdulla Saleh Al Obaidly (Halloween) won the two Future Rider events.

The seventh round of the hugely popular 14-leg series concludes today with three more events, the Amateurs class (100 cm), Open Class (120-125 cm) and the Big Tour class (145-150 cm).