Incheon: Qatar’s equestrian team left their rivals awestruck and a motely crowd of enthusiasts spellbound with a commanding display of horsemanship to clinch the jumping gold at the Asian Games yesterday.
At a venue aptly named Dream Park Equestrian, the Qatari quartet of Nasser Ghazalijahromi, Sheikh Khalid Ali Al Thani, Khalid Mohamed Al Emadi and Basem Mohamed indeed lived a dream to give Qatar their fourth gold medal before sprinter Femi Ogunode took the tally to five by winning the 100m at the Asian Games Main Stadium.
In a remarkable show of speed and control, the team cleared the obstacles on the circuit with effortless ease without accumulating even a single penalty point to finish ahead of Saudi Arabia and Japan who claimed the silver and bronze respectively.
The competition required each rider to complete two rounds of jumps with only 82 seconds allowed per round. And the Qataris proved more than adept, none of them exceeding the time limit or knocking down a single hurdle on their way to the title.
Sheikh Khalid riding Vinna Olympic, Ghazallijahromi on Delloren, El Amadi astride Tamira Iv and Mohamed atop Anyway Li proved far too superior in all aspects of the contest to literally blow the opposition away.
Second-placed Saudi Arabia accumulated four penalty points to settle for the silver while Japan won the bronze despite being docked 12 penalty points.
Riders incur penalty points when they knock down the obstacles or take more than the 82 seconds allowed to complete their rounds.
Horses can also ruin the day for the riders with their disobedience – for example, by refusing to jump, thereby resulting in time penalties. If teams finish on an equal number of penalty points, a jump-off is held to break the deadlock.
Yesterday, the UAE and the Philippines finished fourth and fifth with 14 and 17 penalty points respectively.
The Qatari riders were thrilled with their success, saying it was a “dream come true”.
“This is a glorious moment for us as a team and obviously a dream come true as the Asian Games is a big stage where the competition is of the highest caliber,” Sheikh Khalid said after the podium ceremony.
“We always knew we were capable and our training was such that we knew if we stuck to the basics and didn’t rush things and committed errors we would do well,” he added.QOC
