What: The President of the UAE Showjumping Cup
This is a competition for individual riders. It is a part of the annual four-day showjumping festival held in the UAE every year.
It is classified as a 'CSI 5-star Grand Prix' – the highest level of showjumping competitions – and an event given the highest rating possible by Concours de Saut International, which is a ranking system for showjumping. All CSI events are approved by International Federation for Equestrian Sports.
It was first held in 2010, and in 2013 – after a two-year break – it was made an annual competition in the UAE’s showjumping calendar of events.
Another noteworthy competition held during these four days is the FEI Jumping Nations Cup. A CSI 5-star event in which national teams compete with each other, it serves as the Middle East qualifier for the FEI Nations Cup Final, which is held in Barcelona every October.
When: February 20-23, 2019
The four-day festival will begin on Wednesday, February 20, and end on Saturday, February 23. The President of the UAE Cup, however, will be held from 4.30pm on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Nations Cup will follow on Saturday, starting at 4.30pm.
There are 16 competitions in all, with four held on each of the four days.
Where: Abu Dhabi
Venue for the competitions will be Al Forsan International Sports Resort in Khalifa City A.
Prize money: Dh3.5m
The 230 riders competing across disciplines will be vying for a slice of the Dh3.5 million total prize fund.
How the two competitions work:
The President of the UAE Cup will contested over two rounds, and the rider with the fastest time and the fewest 'faults' will be declared the winner.
The Nations Cup features five riders from each country, but only the points from the best three will be added to the total. The team that scores the most points will be declared the winner, with the rest of the positions depending on the points scored.
There are five countries competing for the two qualifying berths from the Middle East – Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the UAE – for the Nations Cup final in Barcelona in October.
Teams from other nations can also participate and win a share of the prize money, but the points will not count.
UAE team for Nations Cup:
Sheikha Latifa Al Maktoum, Nadia Taryam, Abdullah Al Muhairi (winner of a 5-star event held in Sharjah last month), Abdullah Al Marri, Ghanem Al Hajri.
What's being said:
“It’s very hard to get the whole team to perform at the same level at the same time. But fortunately, we have all our riders peaking at the right time. We are hopeful of a good combined score to finish in the top two in the Nations Cup Middle East qualifier.”
– Mohammed Al Nakhi, head of showjumping committee of UAE Equestrian Federation
