Bahrain: Riders gear up for tough race

Gulf-daily-news.com - Full Article

December 12, 2012

RIDERS lined up for the First World Military Endurance Horseride Championship, set to take place in Bahrain over the weekend, have stepped up the pace yesterday for the upcoming race, scheduled to take place on Saturday.

Representatives of 19 teams taking part were present at the Bahrain International Endurance Village in Sakhir, where some riders conducted their first training session.

Teams in the fray are the UK, Italy, Spain, Estonia, Azerbaijan, Uruguay, Brazil, Ecuador, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco and Bahrain.

Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) is organising this first-of-its-kind global gathering in co-operation with the International Military Sports Council (CISM).

Yesterday's training was witnessed by members of the Organizing Committee, being headed by Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, as well as the International Military Sports Council and teams delegations' officials.

The organising committee, meanwhile, has finalised its preparations with only three days remaining for the start of this 120km ride.

Rehearsals for the event, scheduled for tomorrow, continued yesterday at the village under the supervision of Royal Endurance Team manager Dr Khalid Ahmed Hassan. The final rehearsal to round off the preparations will take place today.

The media guests invited to attend and cover the event for their respective publications, will start arriving today. The championship has received significant attention from sports media worldwide.

More than 15 media representatives are coming to Bahrain for this purpose, including Italy's Luca Giannangeli, Eena Vanni and Giorgio Biffi, German photographer Barbara Miller, Brigitta Ernst of Germany's Dillingen, Alessandra Durazzano of Italy, Elise Wilson of Gulf News and Germany's Heidi Bernsdorff, photographer Julian Wagner.

Regional media representatives include Jordan's Munem Fakhoury, UAE's Baha Eldin Atta, Essam Al Sayed of UAE's Al Ittihad, Khaleej Times' Hisham Bader, besides Mohammed Khalifa and Mohammed Omar of Al Adiyat Magazine...

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