CEC riders make merry

Chennai, Dec 27:The riders of Chennai Equitation Centre (CEC), a premier equestrian centre in Tamil Nadu, bagged the largest number of medals of all clubs in the country at the Junior National Equestrian Championship (JNEC), held at Bhopal from December 12 to 25, 2022. In all, they won 9 gold medals, and a silver and a bronze medal at the event, India’s apex competition for riders under 21 years.Conducted by the Equestrian Federation of India, the governing body for equestrian sports in India, JNEC attracted the participation of over 250 riders and 300 horses from across the country in the competitions of dressage, jumping, eventing, and tent pegging. The competition categories were based on age groups: Children 2 (10-12 years), Children 1 (12-14 years), Juniors (14-18 years), and Young Riders (16-21 years). To qualify for the competitions, the riders are required to have ‘Minimum Eligible Requirements’ by winning a specific number of competitions in the past.Isabelle Hasledar Futnani, from Austria, a winner of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the international governing body of equestrian sports, trained the CEC riders in the past two years. The winners were: Samana Everaa (15 years), who won 2 gold medals in Junior Dressage Individual and Team; Dwijdeep Singh Aulukh (15 years), gold in Junior Dressage Team; Tasha Neethirajan (13 years), 2 gold medals in Children 1 Dressage – Individual and Team, and a bronze medal in Children 1 Dressage – Individual; Miraya Dadabhoy (13 years), gold in Children 1 Dressage Team; Kevin Gabriel (10 years), 2 golds in Children 2 Dressage – Individual & Team, Ananya Haridas (12 years), silver in Children 2 Dressage Individual, and a gold in Children 2 Dressage Team. Kevin Gabriel and Samanna Everaa won the overall Champion Riders Trophy in the Children 2 and Junior Categories respectively.To excel in equestrian sports, which is an Olympic discipline, riders are required to be in perfect harmony with horses, animals that are many times their size and strength. Achieving this state demands years of training both for the horses and the riders. CEC is a sought-after training academy in India for equestrian sports. Its riders regularly win at major national level competitions. They had won medals at the recently concluded FEI World Challenge Dressage, held in Bengaluru, in November 2022.