It’s July, it’s cold, wet and miserable in Melbourne, Australia and there is not much eventing action happening when I get a gentle nudge from one of Australia’s top Technical Delegates that there is actually a major championship on right now that we’re missing out on. No, it’s not Burghley or Kentucky, it’s much closer to home than that and it’s an event that combines eventing action with an idyllic resort.
The perfect event for polo playing TD Geoff Sinclair (sporting his home teamYarra Valley Polo shirt!)
The first ever FEI Asian Eventing Championships (AECH) is being held at the Thai Polo & Equestrian Club in Pattaya, Thailand this weekend (now why does it not surprise me that the TD from Australia, Geoff Sinclair is enjoying officiating at a polo club?) Another Australian, Ron Paterson is also on the Ground Jury and the wizard of cross country course building from New Zealand, Mr John Nicholson is the course designer.
And what a place to design a course; the Thai Polo and Equestrian Club is set in over 500 acres of countryside, overlooking the Gulf of Thailand only one hour away from the Bangkok International Airport. The club boasts three full size and one practice polo field designed by the legendary Jim Gilmore of Ellerston, Australia and Alejandro Lavista Llanos, one of Argentina’s best polo field designers. It has international-standard, world-class, facilities for equestrian sports and has hosted a number of major events including the SEA Games for Eventing from 2007-2013
The event is the result of the cooperation of Thailand Equestrian Federation (TEF), South East Asian Equestrian Federation (SEAEF) and the Thai Polo & Equestrian Club. The FEI Asia Eventing Championship will use the same format as the Asian Games and will run every four years in between each Asian Games to ensure the continuous development of the sports.
Asia is of course an up and coming region in the sport of eventing and in 2012 two Asian countries, Japan and Thailand, participated in eventing at the London 2012 Olympics. I was present at the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials when Japanese riders secured the Team Qualifier slot for Asia-Pacific nations against the Australians and, although obviously disappointed for the Aussies, could not help but be charmed by the joy and relief of the Japanese team.
Tears of joy for Kenki Sato at Blenheim as Japan secure their Olympic qualification Photo: AEL
Japan’s Oiwa Yoshiaki then went on to take the sport by storm at Greenwich, being the top placed rider going into the cross country phase of the 2012 Olympics. Sadly he fell on the cross country course but it was still a great achievement
Thai rider Nina Lamsam Ligon also qualified her first Olympics in 2012 with her second place ranking in the FEI Asia & Oceania region. She is the first female eventer from Asia ever to compete in the Olympics and was the youngest rider competing at London 2012. Nina finished 41st out of 74 competitors and also won the FEI HSBC Rising Star award in 2011
Nina Ligon competing at Barbury International Horse Trials
These top riders are not the only Asian competitors however and in 2013 currently there are 60 riders from 7 Nations in Asia competing internationally (Japan 14, Korea 0, China 1, Thailand 8, Hong Kong 1, Kazakhstan 3, Qatar 0, Indonesia 4, India29)
.At the AECH 2013, 19 athletes from 5 nations (Hong Kong, India, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand) will be competing for team and individual honours. The first horse inspection has been done, a balmy evening Opening Ceremony has taken place – let the first FEI Asian Eventing Championships begin and we’ll be watching with interest to bring you updates
Nina Ligon particpipates in the Opening Ceremony
Photos courtesy of Asian Eventing and HorseMove Thailand
