Saudi Gazette report
GEORGE, SOUTH AFRCA — The Saudi National Team has won the 2023 Tent Pegging World Cup, during the international tournament that was held in South Africa on August 24-26, with the participation of nine countries. In the individual competitions, Saudi equestrian Hassan Omar Asiri emerged world champion, while Abdul Wahhab Asiri bagged the third place.
Saudi Arabia lifted the World Cup with 581.5 points and Pakistan came up second with 570 points while India finished third with 548.5 points. The Saudi team proved their prowess with remarkable performance during the competition at the individual and team levels, as they achieved first place in the sword round, second place in the lancet, and second place in the pegs and relay race. Hassan Asiri won second place in the sword round and in the pegs and relay race.
Members of the Saudi national team include the following riders: Rashid Al-Marri, Muhdhal Al-Qahtani, Abdul-Wahhab Asiri, Hassan Asiri, and Mishaal Al-Shammari, and their training was supervised by international coach Muhannad Al-Rishan Al-Yami.
Minister of Sports Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal congratulated the Saudi team for winning the World Cup title. In a statement on his official account on the X platform, the minister said: “Congratulations, champions.” He said: “I congratulate our heroes, the riders, for winning the first place in the Tent Pegging World Cup, and for equestrian Hassan Omar Asiri for lifting the World Championship in individual competitions.”
The world championship was held in the showgrounds in the George city in the Western Cap province of South Africa. This popular sport involves riders striking with lances at objects while at full gallop.
Tent pegging is a cavalry sport of ancient origin, and is one of only ten equestrian disciplines officially recognized by the International Equestrian Federation. The specific game of tent pegging has a mounted horseman riding at a gallop and using a sword or a lance to pierce, pick up, and carry away a small ground target (a symbolic tent peg) or a series of small ground targets.
The International Tent Pegging Federation is the international governing body of the Equestrian discipline of tent pegging. Lances, swords and revolvers are used in tent pegging. After show-jumping and polo, tent pegging became popular in Saudi Arabia with the flourishing of many tent pegging teams and winning national and international championships within a short period of time.