JEDDAH, 2 November 2007 — In his first official international exposure in show jumping competition, Syrian equestrian champion Ahmed Hamashou grabbed the grand prix in the second round of Egypt International Show Jumping Championship in Alexandria.
Hamashou managed to win the most important cup in the event, clearing obstacles of 160 cm height. Twelve teams participated in this tournament in preparation for the Pan-Arab Championship and the next World Cup of equestrian.
Hamashou’s achievement boosted the morale of the Syrian team who had been written off after two days of the competition. Many experts expected that the Syrian team would not advance into the grand prix, where the prime titles went to the Egyptian team (4 titles), UAE (3 titles) and one title each for Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan. The Syrian team’s perseverance paid off in the end as the Syrians managed to clinch the grand prix cup and register points in the Arab Equestrian Championship.
In his march to the second grand prix cup in the 12-round Arab Championship, Hamshou and his mount Hides passed both the Saudi riders, Prince Abdullah ibn Miteb and Abdullah Al-Sharbatly, Qatari Asian champion Ali Al-Romaihi, Egyptian champions Karim Al-Zoghbi, Mohammed Al-Borai and Ahmed Basioni, as well as UAE’s Abdullah Al-Mori and Jordanian Ibrahim Basharat among others.
In a near-flawless ride Hamashou’s horse failed to clear only one obstacle in the first round, and rider and horse achieved the best time in the second round with a difference of only 10 seconds from Egyptian Basioni and 11 seconds from Prince Abdullah.
We are still at the beginning of the Arabian Tournament for this season and I was not surprised by the Syrian winning as it came after a good planning and preparation. I am aware that equestrian is hard and complicated and that the Arabian Championship is in transition process," Saudi equestrian Al-Sharbatly said at end of the second leg of the Arab circuit.
