Kirat wears equestrian crown

Hyderabad: Delhi’s Kirat Singh Nagara triumphed in the Grade II Jumping event at the National equestrian championship organised by the Telangana State Equestrian Association under the auspices of Equestrian Federation of India at the Hyderabad Polo and Riding Club in Moinabad in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Kirat, who is a lawyer by profession in the National capital, came in as the last rider, collecting 900 points en route to his way to the title. He amassed maximum points by clearing the tallest obstacle twice. Sepoy Mahender Singh came in second with 890 points while Major K.D. Mallick was third with 830 points.

“This was a very easy course. I trained really hard with my horse in the last couple of days. I knew what I wanted to do. So instead of going for the smaller obstacles I chose the bigger one as that would give me more points. In the end it paid off,” an elated Kirat said.

Captain Kirthika Patil, who was the lone female rider in the Grade II Jumping, ended the event outside the top-10 but was content with the result. “I want to tell the world that even women can excel in equestrian events. This was my first Grade II competition and I am quite happy with the result,” said Kirthika, who represented Army Supplies Corps, Bengaluru.

In the individual Grade III Normal event, Major Amit Sinsinwar stood first while Chetan Reddy came in second and Pradeep Jangam was third.

In the team event, 509 ASC Battalion — comprising Major Sinsinwar, Major K.D. Mallik, Sepoy Mahender and Lt. Col. D.P. Nanda — took the top honours. The RVC team ‘A’ of Major Harmanjeet Singh, Rajpal Singh, Nb. Ris Govind Ram and Avdesh were second. The third spot was taken by Marcotte/ Embassy team from Bengaluru.