Tribune News Network
Doha
The sixth season of Qatar’s highly popular domestic equestrian series – Longines Hathab concluded with a thrilling finale at Al Shaqab on Saturday. Comprising various levels and categories of dressage and showjumping, Hathab this season had 14 rounds, two more than each season, to accommodate the growing number of riders and serious competition.
Abdullah Al Qashouti, Media Manager of Longines Hathab, spoke about the season’s success, the sport’s growing popularity and its audiences. Excerpts
Challenges in his role at Hathab
As a Media Manager it was challenging to deliver the ideal image about Longines Hathab to the audience. To tell the people in Qatar - What’s Hathab and what’s going on. A lot of people are not aware about equestrian because it is not like football. It’s a specialized sport, so we try as best as we can to deliver a simple picture to those who do not know this sport - how it is going, what are its rules and how is someone winning, what are Future Riders which is the base for the growth of equestrian in Qatar.
It is the Future Riders who will eventually go on to participate on international events and overseas for Qatar. We are developing new programmes for these riders.
For the other young riders, we have the Small Tour, Medium Tour, the Big Tour. In the Medium Tour we also have the teams competition where we saw the Ajwad team and other new teams participating alongside Alfardan and ExxonMobil this season. Which also shows that new teams are coming up and Hathab is gaining interest.
More teams participating..
In the beginning when Hathab was launched in 2017, there were only the teams which were backed by big sponsors and organizations like Alkass. But now, new horse owners are coming ahead with their teams to participate which is adding to the excitement in Hathab. Hathab is the environment for equestrian in Qatar. You cannot do showjumping or dressage in Qatar unless you participate in Hathab.
If you compare the just concluded Season 6 of Hathab with Season 1, the number of riders participating has jumped four-fold. Earlier the events would start at 4pm and finish at 6pm. Now we start at 4 and finish close to midnight! That shows that the efforts have helped and that we are growing.
Hathab being highly viewed live…
Now equestrian fans have two choices to watch Hathab live - via stream on Youtube and/or on Alkass television live or online. When we have international shows, the broadcast also extends to beIn Sports. Qatar TV also makes during and post event presentations. This year we had Al Jazeera too.
International participation
We have been receiving requests from countries in the region for their riders to participate next year in Hathab. So hopefully, Hathab may grow into a big international league in showjumping as we envision.
How much Hathab helps upcoming riders?
As a young rider in my time there was no Future Riders class. We had to either clear high fences or we could not clear. So at times it meant we couldn’t hope to make it to showjumping. I wish we had this event during our time because this class helps build confidence and prepares young kids for a brighter future in the sport. They can start from 90cm and go higher to 110cm in the Small Tour and so on. I feel Future Riders at Hathab are lucky to have this platform and a great environment to grow. I can see it enhancing the quality of riders and the sport in Hathab.
More female riders competing
Equestrian in a gender neutral sport. And if you see the Global Champions Tour or Olympics, it is sometimes a female or a male winning the same event. So that’s also a great quality of equestrianism. To name a few in Hathab, upcoming and highly impressive riders like Haya Khalid Al Hitmi and Maryam Ibrahim Al Mufah are sharing podium spots with male riders which is very encouraging.
There has also been another new name which is shining – Hind Al Hajri. She’s got great results this year. So the competition between both genders is high and adds to the value of the sport.
On Hathab’s growth
Hathab has been growing season by season and at the end of each season there is an evaluation and look at all the feedback and look at the achievements and challenges as stepping stones to success. We take up the challenges to develop Hathab into a much better show for the next season.
And we are already working towards the next - Season 7 (2023-24)!
