Local equestrian fraternity hails another milestone
MIRI: Sarawak Equestrian Sports Association ( PSENS) reached another milestone in the history of local equestrian sport when they made their debut in the 2017 Piala Ketua Polis Negara Endurance Horse Race held in University Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang, Selangor recently.
PSENS team was represented by Cassandra Ch’ng Duan Shu (rider), Mufasa ( horse), Adi Sebli (coach) and Zulkifli Ahamat (team manager).
“Even though not winning the race, we should be proud of our achievements because to be able participate in the race is already considered a success,” Zulkifli, who is also PSENS vice president, told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Ca s sa nd r a a nd Mu fa s a successfully completed the 25km race with a clean bill of health and registered a pass by the juries and also the vets.
“Many of the participants failed to finish the race because of disqualifications; rider fall and injured, the horse injured or lame. A few of them failed the vets test at various check points or at the finish line.
“Congratulations to our rider Cassandra. She is from Miri and she made us Sarawakian proud of her tenacity and bravery to complete the race with flying colours. True to our spirit of ‘agi idup agi ngelaban’,” Zulkifli exclaimed.
He revealed that more events have been scheduled for 2018 while appealing for “more support from our state government and its relevant agencies.”
“PSENS urgent ly needs a place or field for members of the community and our athletes to train and perform several horses riding and equestrian activities,” he explained.
The association, he stressed, is very committed to bring more honour for Sarawak especially after winning an event in show jumping in Ipoh, Perak last April and now having successfully competed in an endurance race event.
“With our state government and its relevant bodies support and assistance, equestrian sport in Sarawak will be developing faster and paving the way for us to become one of the powerhouses in equestrian sport in Malaysia in the near future.
“The potential is great for our state because we have two of the country’s best equestrian coaches namely Adi Sebli and Abdul Halim Alihan. Plus, we have PSENS as the official body of equestrian sport for the state and we have many talented athletes and riders waiting for their chances and opportunities to represent Sarawak in the equestrian sport,” Zulkifli added.