Sabharwal competed in the showjumping events in the world event with his three horses Carna De La Bryere (14 years), Major van De Vijfheidi (7) and Elliot de Vesquerie (9). (Special arrangement)
With five medals including three gold medals in the ongoing Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) World Jumping Challenge, 15-year-old Jai Singh Sabharwal is now eyeing the last leg of the world body’s event in India later this week at Bengaluru.
Sabharwal competed in the showjumping events in the world event with his three horses Carna De La Bryere (14 years), Major van De Vijfheidi (7) and Elliot de Vesquerie (9). The youngster has now won 12 golds this year in various competitions at the national and international level and is now eager on adding more to his belt.
Sabharwal was ranked World No 67 in Category C in 2023, 11th amongst Indians, in a list led by compatriot Kiran Akhade. He had 13.36 points with 4 penalty deductions.
He won a gold in category B 120cms on the first day of the event on November 7 and followed that with another gold riding Carna in category B 120cms apart from a gold in Category C 130cms astride Elliot in the second leg of the World Jumping Challenge.
“Competing in any FEI Challenge event and winning medals in such an event works as a motivation for any rider. Competing with all my three horses always makes the task more daunting as each horse requires different ways to handle and respond differently. Apart from the last leg, my target this year will be to win more medals in the FEI World Jumping Challenge events in India,” said Sabharwal, who is a student of Ascend international, Mumbai.
It was a fine run by the youngster in the second leg on Saturday as he competed in the Category B 120cms with two different horses winning the gold with Carna De La Bryere and the bronze medal with Major van De Vijfheidi. Earlier in the first leg of the event, Sabharwal had repeated the feat winning the gold astride Carna De La Bryere and the bronze riding Major van De Vijfheidi. The youngster had edged out Harshiyt, who was riding Jenne Galaxie, for the gold astride Carna with a time of 45.45 seconds.
The youngster had started showjumping as a five-year old at the family’s farmhouse at Khopoli under the watchful eyes of his parents Dilprit Sabharwal and Dr Shwetambara Sabharwal and coach Sheila Deval. The youngster later joined the Amateur Riders Club at Mahalaxmi Race Course and started competing at the Equestrian Federation of India national circuit in 2021. Early this year, the youngster won four medals including three gold medals in National Equestrian Championship apart from a bronze in 130cms Grade 3 in Senior Nationals.
The youngster had also won a silver medal in CSI1 1.20m category competing among 62 riders from 40 countries in the FEI International Show in Azelhof in Belgium. “I started competing in Belgium when my family had shifted there during Covid times. We had Carna during that time and later got Major and Elliot last year. In Europe, I got to spend some time with Marlon Zanotelli, one of the top riders in the world, and it helped me understand the basics right from the start. Winning the silver in Belgium this year gave me the belief that I can win against international riders too,” said Sabharwal.
The youngster was also at the Paris Olympics to watch Indian rider Anush Agarwalla compete. Sabharwal counts watching equestrian events at Paris as memorable and sees it as something he too can emulate one day. “My role model is Marlon Zanotelli, who also competed in the Tokyo Olympics. Watching Anush bhaiya compete in Paris was another motivating thing for me. Every rider hopes to compete in the Olympics and win a medal and it’s the same for me,” said Sabharwal, who also has a six-year-old horse named Staf.
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