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No encore for Latifa in individual event
The UAE's fine team performance in the show jumping did not transfer to the individual competition yesterday.
- By Sarah Tregoning, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:36 May 3, 2009
Doha: The UAE's fine team performance in the show jumping did not transfer to the individual competition yesterday.
Confident from an unexpected but richly-deserved bronze in the team show jumping on Monday, the UAE could have been forgiven for expecting more accolades yesterday.
All four UAE riders qualified for the individual event, but competition rules would only allow two to enter.
The best performers, Shaikha Latifa Bint Ahmad Bin Jumaa Al Maktoum and Mohammad Al Kumaiti went on to contest the individual event.
In the first round, Mohammad Al Kumaiti rode his horse Almutawakel confidently to produce one of the competition's 10 clear rounds. Shaikha Latifa fared less well, notching up 16 jumping and six time penalties.
Major undoing
After the break, the course was rebuilt and the interruption proved the undoing for many riders and horses.
Shaikha Latifa was one of those and she and her mount Kalaska de Semilly were eliminated along with four other riders. Al Kumaiti got round by the skin of his teeth with 20 faults.
The only double clear of the day and the gold medal went to Qatar's Yousuf Ahmad Ali Al Rumaihi on Negano. Silver and bronze were decided with a jump off between Taipei's Jasmine Man Shao Chen on Comodoro and Korea's Hyun Jung Joo on Seven Up 15, who both got eight faults over the two rounds.
Chen stole silver with a time of 38.72 and eight faults to Joo's 47.93 and nine faults which gave him the bronze.
Ronnie MacMahon, Equestrian Technical Advisor to the UAE, said that the second round course was far too big and technical for that stage of the competition.
"Our riders were really very, very good," he said after the competition. "We can see that we are on the right track and the committee has made the right decisions.
"This morning, Al Kumaiti rode a picture perfect round. All the riders found the second round course very challenging and to be honest I think the course builder exceeded his remit.
"The horses were tired," MacMahon went on.
"The course in the morning was fine, but the travel takes it out of the horses and the course in the afternoon was just asking too much of them."
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