Al Muhairi believes riders will be boosted by challenge

The secretary general of the Emirates Equestrian Federation says young Emirati riders will benefit from testing themselves against the best.

Taleb Dhaher al Muhairi, the secretary general of the Emirates Equestrian Federation, said the young Emirati riders competing in the Arab Team Challenge will benefit from testing themselves against the best in the world Five showjumpers flew to Hoofdorp, in Holland, for the five-day tournament which starts on Wednesday. "It is a great opportunity for our young riders to gain valuable experience," he said.

"The UAE show jumpers have already qualified and impressed at World Championships and for these youngsters it is a rare chance to test their skills against some of the world's best juniors" . The UAE riders are Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah al Qassimi, Mohammed Abdullah al Kitbi, Sultan Saif zl Awani and Yousef Hashim zl Bafaaly. The juniors and young riders jumping competition, of which the UAE riders are competing in, is part of the FEI European Show Jumping championships for juniors.

The purpose of the Arab Team Challenge is to enable junior riders from the federations involved to compete within a similar environment to the European Jumping Championship. [e-mail]