Ajai Appachu : First Indian to reach semi-finals at World Jumping Finals

Ajai Appachu: The first Indian to Qualify and the first Indian to reach semi-finals at World Jumping Finals

Ajai Appachu, the equestrian is literally – Riding High! If being the first Indian to qualify for the FEI World Jumping Challenge was not enough, Appachu became the first Indian to reach the semi-finals at the World Jumping Finals.

Ajai Appachu(right) with his coach Major(retd) J S Ahluwalia . Image Credits: 1sthorse.com 

The first Indian rider to participate in the history of the world challenge final in Equestrian

Bangalore, India, June 07, 2012: Ajai Appachu, the veteran horse rider from Bangalore is representing India at the ‘FEI (Fédération Equestre Internationale) world jumping challenge final’, which is scheduled to kick start on June 12th 2012 in Venezuela. Ajai is the first person to represent the country in the history of the world jumping challenge finals. Making the whole nation proud, this accomplishment is a milestone for the equestrian sport in India as tremendous encouragement for youngsters willing to take this up as a serious sport.

Ajai Appachu has been trained at the Embassy International Riding School under the legendary horseman retd Maj. J. S. Ahluwalia who is also the Vice President for EFI (Equestrian Federation of India). Commenting on Ajai’s qualification for the event, Maj. Ahluwalia said.  “It is a great achievement and honour for Indian Equestrian as a sport. This will definitely pave the way for a bright future of this sport in the country. Let it be a beginning and we are hoping to see more talent like Ajai to show their class for the country”.

Ajai Appachu has won innumerable equestrian accolades in India and other parts of the world in almost every subset of Equestrian sport, be it dressage, show jumping, eventing, tent-pegging or polo. Ajai is also the chief instructor for children and youngsters at the Embassy International Riding School and the guiding force behind the EIRS competition yard.Commenting on the occasion, Ajai Appachu said, “I am pleased to represent India at the world jumping challenge and would like to express my gratitude to Maj. Ahluwalia who has encouraged me and helped build up my confidence level. I must mention that it is Major Ahluwalia who trained and made me raise my standards to an international level. I also thank EIRS for facilitating world class standards in coaching which will help the country to produce internationally competitive riders”.