Equestrian Fouaad Mirza clinches gold at Olympic qualifying event in Poland

Bengaluru: India’s double Asian Games silver medallist Fouaad Mirza bagged the top honours at the CCI3*S, an Olympic qualifying event, held in Strzegom, Poland. Fouaad is currently the highest ranked individual in Group G for Asia Pacific Zone with 34 points on one horse Fernhill Facetime, 30 points on the second horse Touchingwood and at present qualifying his third horse, Dajara. The eight-year-old Dajara, procured by the Embassy Group, is a promising German Holsteiner with an excellent track record of wins including a German National Championship, Bundeschampionat. [caption id=“attachment_5056291” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Fouaad Mirza. AFP[/caption] “I am very excited about our new horse Dajara, which has immense potential for success at the Olympics. Through the event CCI3*S, we were able to level up the horse rider combination to 4* and building up my points to qualify for the Olympics,” Fouaad said on Sunday. Fouaad started the week with a solid dressage score of 26.8 which placed him second with a very close score to Germany’s Antonia Baumgart, who was one penalty better at 25.8. This was followed by the showjumping event where Fouaad maintained the second position with a clear round. He finished the deciding cross-country round in four seconds over time, leading him to the gold in the Strezgom CCI3*S in Poland. Fouaad has completed Renswoude NED CCI 4*S placed 11th, Jardy FRA CCI4*S, Strzegom POL CCI4*S placed 15th, Sopot POL CCI4*S placed seventh so far for Olympic Qualifying Events. He will next compete at the events in Montelibertti ITY CCI3*S (Italy) and Le Pouget FRA CCI4*S (France).