Badr Al Darwish, Secretary- General of Qatar Equestrian Federation.
DOHA: Equestrian, one of more popular sports in the country, is set for a massive boost on all fronts of the game, a top Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) official said yesterday.
Badr Al Darwish, Secretary-General of QEF, said that the Board of Directors of the Federation has prepared a list of development plans to create a bigger player-base in the country.
Al Darwish said QEF, with help from the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), is looking to go for further development in the sport whether it is a matter of improving the riding standards, getting better horses, helping trainers, administrators and referees.
“The new plans shows our intention of creating a bigger player-base that gets the best of training and top event exposure at a young age,” Al Darwish said.
“We want our young riders competing with the best and reaching podiums at top events,” he added. “We want our riders know how to improve physically and tactically when it comes to riding,” he added.
“I hope that they will soon be in the level of the top riders in the region and the world. Our overall goal is to give quality experience to our riders,” he said.
President of QEF Hamad bin Abdulrahman Al Attiyah recently appointed Abdullah Al Marri as the Director of the national teams. Al Marri will be assisted by Fahad Al Ameri, Rashid Al Nebha and Khaled Hamad.
Al Darwish lauded ‘the fruitful cooperation’ between QEF and the QOC, saying the bodies are determined to raise the profile of the sport at a big scale.
He pointed out that QEF remained ‘proud to be represented by quality riders’ at top events. Top rider Bassem Mohammed earlier this month won two events at the three-day final round of the Longines Global Champions
Tour leg held at Al Shaqab. Last year Bassem won the Grand Prix at the same event at Al Shaqab Arena.
Qatar riders won medals at this year’s Asian Games in Indonesia. In 2016, Qatar equestrian team made their debut at the Olympic Games held in Rio de Janiero.
Last year QOC launched a new riding event - the Hathab Series - primarily to help newcomers to get the right lessons in riding at a relatively young age.
