Young Post speaks to two young standout of the showjumpers to compete at the prestigious Longines Masters of Hong Kong junior events last week
Indonesia's Muhammad Akbar Kurniawan took first place in one of the junior class events. Last week’s Longines Masters of Hong Kong not only saw A-list riders from all around the world showing off their skills, but some up-and-coming teen showjumpers also made quite an impression at the prestigious event.
One of these teenage equestrians is newly crowned Hong Kong Jockey Club Asian Junior Challenge champion Muhammad Akbar Kurniawan. The 15-year-old took first place in one of the junior class events, which was added to the Longines Masters series for the first time this year. He outshone four other young contestants from Asia with an impressive zero-fault finish around a course of 1-metre-tall jumps.
In a post-event interview with Young P ost, the Indonesian said to claim victory at his first five-star show was unexpected, especially with the added challenge of it being a “borrowed horse competition” where contestants have to compete with assigned horses they’d never ridden before.
“Riding a borrowed horse was difficult. But it’s been a pleasure to work with Easyphighter Dei Folletti,” said Muhammad Akbar, referring to the eight-year-old stallion he was assigned.
When he wasn’t vying for the junior titles, the Jakarta-based rider said he was thrilled to watch and learn from the senior-class events. He was also thrilled to meet famed riders such as Olivier Philippaerts from Belgium, and Pium Schwizer and Jane Richard Philips from Switzerland, all of whom he follows on Instagram.
Muhammad Akbar was part of the team that clinched the team trophy at the FEI CSIJ-B show in Bangkok, Thailand, last November, and after taking part in this year’s Longines Masters of Hong Kong, he believes his achievements so far have paved the way for him to bring more glory to his country.
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“I want to win an Olympic gold medal for my country, and I want to continue horse riding for the rest of my life,” he said.
Young Post managed to catch up with another young showjumper in the arena, who stood out as the youngest among the riders in the senior events. Eighteen-year-old Zhang You came 13th place out of 26 contestants in the Longines Grand Prix of Hong Kong, the most important event of the three-day show. If he had been one rank up, he would have been awarded US$4,000 in prize money.
Before the competition, when we asked the Chinese rider how he felt about entering his first five-star show, he said it was exhilarating and nerve-wracking at the same time. No wonder, considering, he had only done around three shows before with his newly bought 11-year-old mare Donna and 10-year-old gelding Caesar.
“Both Donna and Caesar are amazing horses, but Caesar is quite scopey [very good over jumps] and not so easy to ride. Still, I love doing shows and seeing my horses make progress,” said Zhang, who has been training and studying in Belgium for three years.
Progress is something the budding showjumper had struggled with when he was transitioning from being an amateur to a semi-professional rider. The then-Denmark-based rider had proved himself to be a showjumping star in the making, after he swept six consecutive champion titles in a China tour back when he was 14. But what followed his incredible success was an extended period of setbacks.
“I was stuck at the jumping height of 1.40 metres. It was so hard to move on to higher jumps. I got disappointed easily when I was in the ring,” he said.
With the help of his training partners and coaches, he eventually made the much needed breakthrough, and now his record height is 1.55 metres.
Looking beyond his Longines Masters series debut, the Antwerp International School student said he is looking forward to doing more of these five-star shows, but more importantly, wants to focus on getting into a good university in Belgium.