June 10, 2006
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Our very own equestrian star, Syed Omar Almohdzar did Malaysia proud by finishing eighth astride Lui 24 in the Wiesbaden CSI 3-star Grand Prix in Germany recently. Following his very successful first FEI World Cup Jumping Final outing in April this year, Syed Omar finished in the money and ahead of Swedish Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (10th placing), the winner of the second final competition of the 2006 FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Kuala Lumpur. In the company of 47 top international riders, Syed Omar, Malaysia’s only international grand prix rider was one of the 10 competitors who had a clear round, outdoing seasoned riders like Rodrigo Pessoa (31st place), Heinrich Hermann Engemann (13th place), Lars Nieberg (24th place) and Geir Gulliksen (23rd place).
The Wiesbaden Grand Prix was also a qualifying event for the World Equestrian Games 2006 and the European Championship 2007. Syed Omar has already qualified for the World Equestrian Games at La Bagnaia, Italy last September, the first Malaysian and the second South East Asian rider to do so. “I’m really out of place there! But it feels great to get a result finally. At this level it is just a bit harder to do so.
What’s also great is that I’m actually qualified for the European Championship too but I can’t ride it of course since I’m not European. It’s still an achievement,” said Syed Omar. Amid a star-studded field, Syed Omar has once again proved that he can hold his own. Syed Omar had only two rails down at the first final competition at the Kuala Lumpur World Cup Final performing better than some of the world’s best despite having the misfortune of being the first draw.
Despite Syed Omar’s brilliant riding, Lui decided he was not going to play at the second round causing the pair an entry to the final round. Lui is a 12-year-old Bavarian gelding which is rather green with very little competition experience and the Kuala Lumpur World Cup Final was his third indoor event. The Wiesbaden Grand Prix is part of Syed Omar’s preparation for the World Equestrian Games which will be held in Aachen, Germany this August. It has been a fruitful and fantastic 2005/2006 season for Syed Omar, who will be going for the Olympics 2008 qualifier to be held in Europe next year.