Commercial Bank CHI Al SHAQAB Concludes

Doha, February 27 (QNA) - The 8th Commercial Bank CHI AL SHAQAB Presented by Longines, organized by Al Shaqab, a QF member, concluded on Saturday. German Christian Ahlmann won the first place over the horse Dominator 2000 Z after achieving a time of 36.17 seconds in the jump-off round, the Frenchman Oliver Robert came in second place, and Belgian Niels Bruynseels finished in the third place. Ahlmann and Dominator beat French rider Olivier Robert and his 12-year-old Gelding Vivaldi des Meneaux by just 0.100 seconds. The German rider was the first to go in the jump-off and he produced a daring performance, drawing gasps from the crowd, as he delivered the winning round in 36.17 seconds. Robert and Vivaldi des Meneaux jumped clear in 36.27 seconds. Belgium's Niels Bruynseels on Delux Van T&L finished in third place after coming home in 36.82 seconds. Julien Epaillard, who had won the opening event of the championship on Thursday, triumphed for the second time in three days. The Frenchman topped the CSI5*1.45 class with Safari d'Auge in 67.99 seconds. Spain's Eduardo Alvarez Aznar astride Legend was second in 70.53 seconds, followed by the Netherlands Maikel van der Vleuten and Kamara van't Heike in 72.25 seconds. Jessica Von Bredow-Werndl clinched the dressage Grand Prix Freestyle title. The German had won the Grand Prix - CDI5* with the 17-year-old KWPN horse Zaire-E on Friday, and they put on another spectacular show. Bredow-Werndl and Zaire-E were unbeatable as all jury members placed the combination at the top with a total score of 84.780 percent. The Germans swept the podium after Helen Langehanenberg (Damsey FRH) took second place with 82.050 percent score, while Dorothee Schneider (Faustus 94) was third with a total score of 81.865 percent. Khalifa bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, Executive Director of Al Shaqab thanked the organizers of the tournament, which witnessed strong competition among the participants. He said that the final day of the championship was distinguished in everything, whether in terms of attendance, turnout, organization or the strength of competitions that included dressage and jumping, adding that this reflects the great success of Al Shaqab in achieving such high standards that make its international championship a distinctive mark in the field of global equestrian. Ali Al Rumaihi, the sporting director of the tournament, praised the distinguished levels witnessed by the tournament from the beginning to the end. The championship witnessed a distinguished presence of the best riders of the world from 23 countries, which confirms the global reputation that the championship has reached in all organizational aspects, Al Rumaihi added. Director of the championship Omar Khaled Al Mannai confirmed that it achieved great technical and organizational success and witnessed huge participation by the best riders in the world. Al Mannai thanked HE President of the Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani for his continuous support for the championship, which ensured its success. He also thanked the 400 volunteers in the championship, most of whom were Qataris and affiliated with the Qatar Foundation. (QNA)