Hathab prepares for thrilling finale as riders fight for titles

The final round of the Longines Qatar Equestrian Tour Hathab will take place today and tomorrow in Al Shaqab, with thrilling battles in sight for the overall title. Today’s events will take place in Small Tour, Medium Tour and Big Tour with another round of all three classes scheduled for tomorrow.
The Big Tour class is set for a close finish between brothers Saeed Nasser al-Qadi and his brother Hamad Nasser al-Qadi. Saeed tops the points table with 246 points, with Hamad just eight points behind. Five points clear of former champion Nasser al-Ghazali and Faleh Swaid al-Ajmi, making the final a cutting-edge thriller.
Interestingly, fifth runner Mubarak Yousef al-Rumaihi (227 points) and sixth runner Mohamed Khalifa al-Baker (222) are also in contention for the title.
The Medium Tour is also balanced with Rashid Twaim al-Marri (251 points), ahead of Cyrine Cherif (245) by just six points. In third place is Mohamed Saeed Haidan (207), followed by Ghanem Nasser al-Qadi (198) and Jaber Rashid al-Amri (197).
The Petit Tour is led by Mohamed Jaber al-Nuaimi with 261 points, followed by Mohamed Nasser al-Qadi (230) Mohamed Rashid al-Amiri is third (217).
The winners of the Future Riders have already been decided with Hadi Mansour al-Shahwani, emerging champion with 179 points. Jaber Mansour al-Shahwani with 176 points was second, followed by Barzan Azzam Saleh in third place with 163 points. Hadi also won the second tier of the Future Riders class with 194 points, with Maryam Abdel Karim (182) second and Sultan Motassour Hassan (104) third.
Omar al-Mannai, vice-president of the senior organizing committee of the Longines Qatar Equestrian Tour Hathab and commercial director of Al Shaqab, was delighted with the success of the fifth edition of the popular series, led jointly by the Equestrian Federation of Qatar and Al Shaqab – member of the Qatar Foundation.
“The event was a huge success,” al-Mannai said. “All rounds were marked by a high level of competition between riders and horses. Additionally, several promising runners have emerged through Hathab and they will only improve with experience,” he added.
Al-Mannai predicted that the next season of Hathab will be one of the strongest. “We have already started preparing for the sixth edition of Hathab and are in the process of finalizing the calendar taking into account that the dates will not coincide with the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. It is planned to start Hathab in August, given the delays that will occur in the year due to Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup. Raising the technical level of riders and horses and finding sponsors, whether they have been with us before or finding new ones, will be our goal,” al-Mannai said.
The Hathab grand finale will be filled with fabulous activities for children including henna and face paintings, bouncy castles, table football, table tennis and PlayStation games. Admission is free for spectators.