Sheikh Khalid Bin Ali Al Thani riding Vienna Olympic
Eleven teams lined out for the second leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping 2015 series in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates today. Four countries, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates, were battling for the two qualifying spots available for the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2015 Final which will take place in Barcelona, Spain in September.
The winning team from Qatar, and the Saudi Arabian team that finished fifth, claimed the two qualifying places. Six teams were competing for a qualifying spot for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – Egypt, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
Qatar claimed the single Olympic qualifying place on offer to countries in Group F. Six teams have already qualified in Jumping for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games: Netherlands, France, USA, Germany and Sweden at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy, and Brazil as the host nation.
Course designer was Luc Musette assisted by fellow-Belgian Frank Van Humbeeck and UAE’s Yousif Al Mahmoudi and team. Just one horse-and-rider jumped clear in the first round, the very last to go, Germany’s David Will and Colorit. Surprisingly, there were no double-clear performances. Three horse-and-rider combinations jumped clear in the second round – Qatar’s Khalid Al Emadi (Tamira IV), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al Sharbatly (Tobalio) and Egypt’s Sameh El Dahan (Suma’s Zorro).
The next leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2015 series will take place at Coapexpan in Mexico on Friday 24 April.
Source: FEI/Louise Parkes