Greece’s Natsis, UAE’s Al Mheiri strike show jumping golds
abu dhabi — Dimitrios Natsis from Greece won the gold medal in the CSIYH1 One Round Jump-Off category of the sixth edition of the FBMA International Show Jumping Cup at the Al Forsan International Sports Resort.
A total of 34 riders were competing for the Dh50,000 prize purse, but it was Natsis who took the top honours and Dh12,500 with times of 78.32 and 32.40. Natsis was closely followed by Emirati Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi, chalking times of 79.29 and 33.84. Third and fourth spots were taken by Georgia Tame from the UK who registered times with two different horses, Z7 Chaica and Z7 Regal Don.
Just before midday, the CSIY-A category got underway. Welcoming 16 riders, this Jump-Off featured fences of 1.35m under the suncovered arena. Three faultless riders made it to a second-round decider, which included Emirati Humaid Abdulla Al Mheiri, American Ayman Nasser Al Onays and Saudi Arabia’s Salman Al Ajamy.
And it was their respective times of 78.05, 83.46 and 78.84 that took them to the second round, where Al Mheiri won gold with a faultless run of 32.94. Al Ajamy was quicker with 31.68, but eight faults saw him drop to bronze position and Al Onays took silver with a time of 34.81 with four faults.
This year has been particularly successful for Emirati equestrian talent and a total of 68 UAE nationals have taken part in the international competition.
The UAE’s Maitha Mohammed Al Hajri, riding out of Sharjah Equestrian Club said: “It’s special for us. From the beginning of the season we plan around it as it’s very important. The event has evolved so much over the years and FBMA has really encouraged people to up their game to perform at an international level, and a lot of the girls aim high for this show and to compete here.”