Anees ends at bottom of pool in equestrian

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Sydney: India's Imtiaz Anees finished at the bottom of the pool of 23 riders with a total of 236.60 penalty points in the three-stage Olympic equestrian event on Friday.

Riding 'spring invader', he collected ten penalty points in the third stage (show jumping) on the third day of the event on Friday. Two riders dropped out of the race overnight.

David O'Connor of the United States, astride 'Custom Made', won the gold in the event while Australian Andrew Hoy and Mark Todd of New Zealand got the silver and bronze respectively.

David had 34 penalty points, Andrew 39.80 and Mark 42. Imtiaz had come last of the 25 riders after the second stage (cross-country) collecting 165.60 penalties, the maximum by anybody in that leg. He was placed 32nd (with 61 penalties) after dressage on the first day in a field of 38 riders from 21 countries.

Thirteen riders either retired or were eliminated from the race on Thursday. Brazil's Roberto Macedo and Danish rider Nils Haagensen fell from their mount. Roberto suffered a pelvic fracture and nils a broken shoulder.

Greece's Heidi Antikatzidis, who was second on Thursday, dropped to the sixth position when she knocked down two rails and ran over time in show jumping on Thursday.

Imtiaz thus joined the growing list of Indian sportspersons who capitalised on the low qualification standards back home, to take part in the Olympics under the pretext of gaining international exposure. But it was only at the expense of the country's reputation.

Imtiaz had been training and competing in Australia for the past few months and had achieved Olympic qualifying standards in competitions here.

The rider was not part of the Indian contingent cleared by the government initially. But he requested chef de mission Ashok Mattoo to forward his name for representing the country at the Olympics as he had passed the revised qualifying mark for the Games.

Imtiaz was given permission to take part on September 17 by the Indian government and he was finally given the green signal by the Games authorities only one-and-half hours before the final inspection of horses on September 19 on the eve of the three-day equestrian event.

The three-day event tests rider and horse over three skills - dressage, cross-country and show jumping. Riders incur penalties, rather than being awarded scores, and the lowest penalty total over the three skills wins the gold. Men and women compete together in the event.

UNI