Distant rides may become norm

On Boxing Day, Christie Nair's belated Christmas and advance birthday present came in the form of winning the 100-110cm junior (14 to 18 years) category at the SEA Digitalisation Show Jumping Development Challenge, an event that could be the future format of equestrian in the Covid-19 era.

Despite it being 13 months since she last took part in an international competition, the Singaporean, who turns 17 on Thursday, and her seven-year-old horse Corason placed first out of 17 riders from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

What was different this time was that there were only a handful of local-based riders at the Bukit Timah Saddle Club, as this four-category (junior and open) competition was held simultaneously across four venues in Singapore, Malaysia (Selangor and Perak) and Thailand (Samut Prakan) due to the pandemic.

Christie said: "I think this digitalised event was so well-run and such a good alternative to normal shows because it gives us the same exposure to competing at a large scale with more experienced riders while making sure everyone is staying safe during the pandemic."

To ensure consistency, all the venues had to put up a show jumping course conceptualised by the official course designer. These must be identical, with the same height, distance, and fence elements.

All the jumps were broadcast online using Zoom and a panel of three judges from Malaysia then called the competition from the Equestrian Association of Malaysia (EAM) office in Selangor.

There were 51 entries from the three countries across four classes.

The Equestrian Federation of Singapore (EFS) said the South-east Asian Equestrian Federation took about three months to come up with the framework and guidelines.

The EAM conducted a trial digitalisation show jumping event for its local clubs in October, before the idea of an international competition emerged in November.

EFS worked closely with Sport Singapore and Singapore Land Authority to pull off the event, which featured national athletes, here.

EFS general manager Shirley Khaw said: "The objective of this event is to give riders the platform and opportunities to compete against riders from other countries, without having to leave their own country.

"The key challenge is to ensure that all respective organising venues must work to comply with their own countries' existing measures and guidelines, while ensuring that the safety of all riders, officials and volunteers remain the top priority and are not compromised."

The measures included temperature-taking, compulsory wearing of masks except while they were mounted, and having no spectators. All rosettes, medals and certificates were sent to the riders by courier.

While Khaw noted that a similar format had been introduced by world governing body International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) in 2001 at the Jumping World Challenge, the physical presence of FEI international judges were required then.

She believes the Asean variation could be the way to go for equestrian if the coronavirus remains.

There are plans for another event in March or April, while the Asian Equestrian Federation is also exploring the possibility of holding an online continental event.

Khaw said: "We are definitely exploring the possibility of introducing this to our other disciplines like dressage...

"There is the need for us to think out of the box and get creative. The key is how to transform these challenges into opportunities for the growth and development of our sport."

Equestrian is not the only sport to use technology to organise competitions during the coronavirus pandemic.

The April 17-June 5 Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Home Tour was organised for players who had a PDC Tour card this year, with Englishman Nathan Aspinall emerging as champion.

It was not all pitch perfect, however, as Keegan Brown was eliminated in the group stage after experiencing Internet issues.

When the National Basketball Association (NBA) season was suspended in April, eight NBA and Women's National Basketball Association players and legends participated in the April 12-16 NBA Horse Challenge, where they had to match one another's shots in a knock-out competition streamed on the ESPN app.

Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley Jr, playing from an indoor gym in Columbus, Ohio beat Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine to win the contest.

The theme of competing at home continued in the "Ultimate Garden Clash", with Mondo Duplantis and Renaud Lavillenie sharing gold on May 3 after a pole vault competition held at their respective homes in Louisiana and Clermont-Ferrand, France. The event was screened by World Athletics on social media.

A more ambitious athletics meet, the Inspiration Games, was held on July 9 when world-class talent competed across seven venues around the globe in eight events, each featuring three athletes.

American Noah Lyles thought he ran the 200m race in 18.90sec, faster than Usain Bolt's world record (19.19sec), until it was discovered he started from the wrong line and ran only 185 metres.