Doha: The Longines Hathab Qatar Equestrian Tour will make its return when the fifth edition of the hugely popular 14-round series kicks off today at the Qatar Equestrian Federation Arena.
Action will kick-start with the Small Tour at 3pm and will be followed by the Medium Tour from 5pm onwards.
The second day of the opening round will see the Future Riders, Open Class, and Big Tour competitions from 9am, 3pm and 5.30pm onwards respectively.
Excitement among the participants and organisers is palpable as the new 2021-22 season, for the first time since the launch of Hathab in 2015, will see two extra rounds.
Hathab, meaning “canter” in Arabic, is an initiative of H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee.
The annual tour is organised and hosted jointly by Qatar Equestrian Federation and Al Shaqab.
It aims to improve the standard of horse riding among Qatari youth, while encouraging the involvement of private stables and individual horse owners to spread awareness of horsemanship as part of Qatar’s history and tradition.
Omar Al Mannai, Vice-Chairman, Organising Committee Longines Hathab, welcomed the new season and hoped for more competitive action through the season.
“Hathab has helped our riders gain in stature besides several riders from GCC countries seeking to participate. Some will be seen participating by the middle of the season. This will add more challenge and spice up the competition even more,” he said.
Event Director and former Asian Games gold-medalist and Olympian Ali Al Rumaihi expects fierce competition with the addition of two more rounds to the season.
“More riders with more horses are keen to perform in Hathab and with the next Asian Games coming up in 2022, this is a great opportunity for them to improve and sharpen their skills,” Al Rumaihi said.
Riders are already excited with extension of the competition length of Hathab and more than eager to take the field.
“We have two additional rounds from this season and so competing will be tougher than it has been," said Nasser Al Ghazali, the defending Big Tour champion.
Al Ghazali, who beat Saeed Nasser Al Qadi and Hamad Nasser Al Qadi last season, has been highly successful on his stride Quel Homme.
Also awaiting the action is Cyrine Cherif, who became the first woman rider to clinch a Hathab crown claiming the Medium Tour. Cherif has been rapidly improving and growing in stature. She beat, Khalifa Al Baker and Rashid Towain Al Marri to the post the last season and is keen to carry on with her good show.
“I’m focused on doing well in each round,” she said.
Cherif was also part of the camp held in Europe and will make use of that experience to enhance her showjumping skills and performances.
Khalifa Abdullah Al Khaldi, who stood tall winning the Small Tour in 2019-20 season will now be riding in the Medium Tour and aiming to excel in the higher category as well.
