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Saudi Arabia wins its first Asiad equestrian gold in team jumping
12/12/2006 10:31

Saudi Arabia (KSA) claimed their first Asiad equestrian gold medal in the team jumping event in Doha on Monday.

Sydney Olympic bronze medallist Khaled Al Eid led the team to beat South Koreans to the runners-up as the bronze medal went to the riders from the United Arab Emirates.

The KSA team scored only four penalty points overall as Kamal Bahamdan and Abdullah Sharbatly jumped clear in round two with Al Eid and Price Abdullah Al Saud ranking with clean scores from both rounds.

"All team members showed their abilities though being under big pressure. They knew that there were quite a lot of people watching them, even members of the Saudi Royal Family. But the riders did good job," said KSA team manager Van Iersel of the Netherlands.

"The team tactics I put up worked exactly to my expectations. I put the most experienced rider (Al Eid) first and that proved to be right, " he added.

The South Korean team managed to keep their silver medal with a point of 13, three points ahead of the Bronze winner of 16.

"We really wanted to beat the Saudis, but they were just too good today," said South Korea's last rider Joo Jung Hyun, who had to stay clear to save a silver for his team.

"That was a huge pressure. But I managed just thinking of (Kim) Hyung (Chil) because we want to win this medal for him," Joo added.

Kim Hyung Chil, Joo's teammate, died in an accident in the cross country event in Doha on Thursday.

Hosts Qatar finished fourth with a score of 20 points, including 16 faults from the first round.



Xinhua News