The Hindu : Sport / Equestrian : Sajjan triumphs

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Monday, May 09, 2005

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Sport - Equestrian

Sajjan triumphs

Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI: National record holder Naib Risaldar Sajjan Kumar, astride Fariyad, flew over the 1.75m-high wall to hold his fort in the Open jumping puissance for the second year in a row at the National show jumping championship at the Army Equestrian Centre here on Sunday.

Sajjan Kumar, the rider from the President's Body Guard (PBG), gave a late take-off to Fariyad but the thoroughbred steed responded nicely to clear the height without inviting any jumping faults, though it toed the crust of the wall.

Defending champion Kumar had the same combination last year when he broke the 32-year-old puissance record clearing 1.92m. On Sunday evening though, none of the rider could stretch the contest that far.

The other five riders in the third round all breached the wall as their horses crashed on the top embankment. Subedar Hem Raj on Haifa was expected to provide tough time for Sajjan Kumar, but his steed failed to clear the third-round height and settled for the silver medal. Lt. Col. Sandeep Dewan cleared second round on both the horses, Kanwar Saab and Raziya, before settling for the second position. Gulab Singh on Hanoverian steed Victor was joined the group that finished second.

The results:

Open jumping puissance (figures in parenthesis denotes penalty points): 1. Sajjan Kumar (on Fariyad) (0, 0, 0) 0, 2. Hem Raj (on Haifa) (0, 0, 4) 4, Lt. Col. Sandeep Dewan (on Kanwar Saab) (0, 0, 4) 4, Lt. Col. Dewan (on Raziya) (0, 0, 4) 4 and Gulab Singh (on Victor) (0, 0, 4) 4, 6. Shivaji Poonia (on Moonflower) (0, 0, 8) 8.

NEC Grade-I jumping puissance: 1. Arun Maribashetti (on CJ-15) and Hem Raj (on Haifa), 3. Danny Swittens (on On The Edge).

Team tent pegging: 1. Eastern Command Team (Lt. Col. H. R. Sunil on Trinity, Sher Singh on Rajni Gandha, Shish Ram on Top Gun, Ram Niwash) 121, 2. Haryana Police `A' (Nirmal Singh on Sahjada, Hari Kishan on Touch Me Not, Ram Bhagat on Mrignayani, Nar Singh on Sahjadi) 116.5, 3. ASC Centre (Palwinder Singh on Nakul, Gulab Singh on Bemisal, Manoj Kumar on Tiranga, Mal Chand Bishnoi on Teerandaz) 115, 4. Haryana Police `B' (Baba Lal on Nisha, Karan Singh on Lady Nancy), Sasidharan on King Forte, Suresh Kumar on Tap Dancer) 101.

Open Jumping six bar (figures in parenthesis denotes penalty points): 1. Mal Chand Bishnoi (on Gold Finger) (0, 0, 4) 4, 2. Girdhari Lal (on Baaz) (0, 0, 8) 8, 3, Balwinder Kumar (on Miraz) (0, 8) 8.

Senior, young rider and junior rescue relay: 1. Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, (Danny Swittens on Tara, Kavita Swittens on Silver Streak, Ashray Butta on First Crush) 27 in 68.77s, 2. President's Body Guards (Harsimranjit Singh on Farhan, Manpreet Singh on Royal Caliber, Sudhir Singh on Tipu) 27 in 69.58, 3. Bangalore Rockers (Khiv Singh on Panchali, Shashank Shrishrimal on Rebellion, Kingshuk Chatterjee on Pralay) 23 in 72.55, 4. Punjab Public School, Nabha, (Simardeep Singh on Alibaba, Manmeet Singh on Sultan, Amrik Singh on Leading Lady) 22 in 69.04, 5. Magic (Adhiraj Neel Mukerji on Magic, Gaurav Gogoi on Alibaba, Sunil Kumar on Galib) 22 in 71.54, 6. 61 Cavalry (Capt. S. Saharan on Bold Invader, P. Jagtap on Guddu, Sehajj Singh Virk on Alibaba) 22 in open time.

Grade III jumping topscore: 1. Maj. N. S. Sandhu (on Twister) 1010 in 65.20s, 2. Shaitan Singh (on Titan) 700 in 65.27, 3. Girdhari Lal (on Baaz) 700 in 66.62, 4. Lt. Col. Sandeep Dewan (on Raziya) 700 in 69.14, 5. Shivaji Poonia (on Moonflower) 620 in 65.00, 6. Balwinder Kumar (on Miraz) 590 in 66.39.

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