Actor Karthi Sivakumar honoured The Competition Team at the Chennai Equitation Centre on April 17.
The Competition Team comprising 10 young riders (10 – 20 years old) have achieved outstanding success and made a mark as one of India’s most successful Equestrian Teams in the 2023/24 season.
The Chennai (CEC) riders returned with 14 medals from the Junior National Championships in Bangalore, winning all the Golds in all the Medal Categories of the Senior Nationals in Dressage at the beginning of 2024.
The young equestrians have excelled globally, becoming victorious against Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore in the 2023 FEI World Dressage Challenge and snatching the top spots in four of the five categories.
The CEC’s winning streak continued as they won multiple championships. Notable victories included the Chennai Police Championship (Best Team, Best Open Rider, Best Youth Rider), the Hindustan Championship (Best Team & Best Dressage Rider), Dream Alliance (Best Team as well as 22 individual medals amongst 8 competing centres across India) as well as the Equestrian Premier League (Best Rider in Sub-Junior Category as well as Open Category). These victories solidified the team’s ability to compete consistently at the top level.
Isabelle Futnani, from the Chennai Equitation Centre, stated, “It’s been an amazing journey. Our riders have shown incredible talent, dedication, and resilience; their achievements speak volumes about their hard work. We’re super proud of them and excited for what’s next. We’d also like to thank actor Karthik for extending his presence at our event and, in turn, taking the success of our riders to a bigger audience of the public. We’re grateful for this and excited for what it means for our future!”
With greater ambitions for international competitions like the Asian Games and Olympics, we want to encourage these young riders who are at the forefront of the country’s Equestrian performance, making Tamil Nadu a proud centre of this sport.
CEC is at 130 Old Mahabalipuram Road, Sholinganallur, OMR. Ph : 95000 76968.
Winning statistics
- Tasha Neethirajan on Soulmate & Lamborgini for winning Gold and Silver in the International FEI World Dressage Challenge all over India, as well as representing Team India which could take the Gold in the respective Zone competing against Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Tasha has also won Team Gold as well as individual Bronze at the Junior Nationals in Dressage in her respective age group (Juniors). She has also won the Equestrian Premiere League and placed as the best Sub-Junior rider in the Season.
- Ananya Sajit on Knock-out and Xaria for winning Double Gold in the Junior Nationals in Dressage (Children 1 Category) for her individual as well as team performance.
- Aadithri Rajaram on Knock-out for winning Gold in the Senior Dressage Nationals for her individual performance in the Preliminary as well as Elementary class. She has also been part of the winning Team in the Senior Dressage Nationals as well as the Junior Nationals in the Young Rider Category.
- Samanna Everaa on Soulmate for winning individual Gold in the Senior Dressage Nationals as well as her achievement winning the Team Gold in the Junior Nationals in Dressage (Young Rider) alongside her great placing in 3rd position in the international FEI World Dressage Challenge in the Senior 1 category all over India.
- Miraya Dhadabhoy for achieving the Team Gold Medal in the Senior as well as Junior Nationals in Dressage with her Horse FT as well as winning the individual Silver Medal in the Junior Nationals, she has also been awarded the Best Youth Rider in the Chennai Police Championship.
- Sritanvi Karthik on Xaria for winning Team Gold and individual Silver during the Junior Nationals in Dressage (Junior Category)
- Dwijdeep Singh Aluk for winning the Team Gold in Dressage as well as Team Silver in Show Jumping with Jack Daniels in the JNEC (in the Junior Category)
- Kevin Gabriel for winning the Team Silver in Dressage in the Junior Nationals as well the Best Dressage Rider during the Hindustan Championship
- Iman Mecca for ranking in 3rd Team Position during the Senior Nationals in Dressage with her Horse Grand Duke, and winning many more medals during other Championships.
- KS Dhikshit for achieving the Team Silver Medal in Dressage with Xaria in the Children 2 category during the Junior Nationals and contributed with several achievements towards the Dream Alliance Trophy as well as the Chennai Police Championship.
