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UAE juniors win Gold, Silver medals At Hungary endurance ride The UAE savoured endurance success yet again by clinching the gold and silver in the individual event at the World Endurance Championship for Junior and Young Riders held in Babolna, Hungary on Saturday, September 5, 2009. The UAE also bagged the Team Silver medal. Hussain Ali Al Marzouqi won the first place and with Sheikh Abdullah bin Faisal Al Qassimi completed a 1-2 finish. Marzouki finished the 120-km distance in a timing of 5 hours 15 minutes 10 seconds riding on an average speed of 22.46 kmph on Sergai. Sheikh Abdullah on Castlebar Sobia was two seconds behind the winner. Third place went to French rider Laetitia Goncalves who partnered Jasmina Des Ayssade in a timing of 5 hours 20 minutes 01 seconds. In the third phase, UAE rider Ali Ghanim Al Marri on Ridasa Dr GBM was eliminated as his horse went lame but Mohammad Ahmad Ali Al Subose on Cloud Valley Armani completed the ride to give UAE the team silver medal. Sheikh Saqr bin Faisal Al Qassimi on Castlebar Trueman and Majid Mohammad Al Sabri on Mitsuko de Sauveterre also completed the ride which helped the UAE bag the Team Silver medal behind France. The victory by Al Marzouki is noteworthy since this was his first ever ride for the UAE national team. Sheikh Abdullah's silver-winning effort was his third successive finish in the World Endurance Championship for youngsters. In 2007, Sheikh Abdullah had won the Bronze medal in Argentina in 2007 and he had won the Silver medal in 2005 in Bahrain. As many as 95 riders from 26 countries took part in the ride with 67 of them completing the distance successfully. Taleb Dhaher Al Muhairi, Secretary General of the Emirates Equestrian Federation, was elated over the victory and said this was a good beginning for the season considering that the European Open Endurance Championship scheduled to be held in Italy on September 26, 2009.   View Photo 1View Photo 2View Photo 3View Photo 4