Recently, in the concluding second stage of the Longines Global Champions Tour, the Irish team won the "Abu Dhabi Cup Scevic," while the OAE team became the holder of the silver medal. The competitions took place yesterday alongside the first stage of the OAE championship in the five-star category, organized by the Arabian equestrian sports union, at the international competitions in Abu Dhabi, where 43 riders participated, and the total prize fund comprised 700 thousand euros.
The OAE will also host the third and fourth stages in 2026 and 2027; the remaining stages of the Longines Global Champions Tour will take place in America, the Netherlands, and France in March, June, and September 2025. The final is expected to be held in Spain in October of the same year.
Members of the winning teams were awarded by the honored Sheikh Zayed bin Hamad Al Nahyan, representative of the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Equestrian Federation, Jebrom Mukhamed Ghanem Al Suwaidi, the state minister, Dr. Ghanem Mukhamed Al Hadjri, the general secretary of the Arab equestrian sports union, the president of the tournament, Sultan Mukhamed Khalifa Al Yahaie, the head of the residential group in the International Equestrian Federation, managing the tournament, Mukhamed Akhmed Al Harbi, the general director of the Union of Arab Countries, and Patrick Lunkiy, the regional director of Longines.
The first round of the second stage of the Longines Global Champions Tour featured obstacles with a height of 160 cm. All competing teams participated. In the second round, 8 teams took part, with three riders from each, after which the best results based on the points of one rider from each team were selected.
The Irish team won the "Abu Dhabi Cup" without losing a single point in these two tours. The OAE team took second place, earning 8 penalty points in the second tour, after finishing without penalties in the first tour. The third place went to the French team with 12 penalty points in the second tour.
German rider Gern Zaypfel won first place in the trials for the jumping horse in the trials with a time of 43.53 seconds. Belgian Constant van Bassechen, at the end of the finals, won the Cup of the International Championship for two-star competitions, organized by Longines with a time of 41.14 seconds.
Irishman Shane Bryne took first place in the previous competition over "Z Seven Absolute" in a trial for two-star jumps at a height of 135 cm, organized by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, with a result of 33.51 seconds.
Syrian Leith Grib together with the horse "Elite de Bont" won first place at the international competitions for riders in the junior category at 125 cm height, organized by the Arab equestrian sports union.
