As preparations for his 12th birthday party were on,Zoravar Singh Thiara shut himself up in a room and counted the hours left for the big event. Zoravar was not looking ahead to the party in the evening; he was waiting for his first international tournament-the FEI World Dressage Challenge. The thought of him being the youngest participant in the tournament made him anxious,but he was ready. It was a big event and naturally,the best equestrians of the world were to participate in it. I had never participated in an international event before. I knew I needed lot of hard work. I was jittery in the initial period,but it settled down once the event began, Zoravar said. It all began one and half months ago when Zoravar came to know that the tournament would be held in October. He went straight to his mother and asked her to pray that the event be held after October 18,the day he would turn 12 the age required for an equestrian to participate in a tournament. The prayers were answered October 22 and 23 were announced as the tournament dates. The event was to be held in New Delhi. It was a perfect birthday gift. I packed my bags and left for Delhi to train under my coach Major G S Ahluwalia, the student of St Johns School said. I knew other participants had been working six months in advance,but that didnt deter me. In the tournament,Zorawar raised his parents hope by topping in the qualifiers. There were 23 entries and after elimination,only 10 were left. I came first, he said. Despite training for just over a month,the Chandigah lad did what his parents had not even dreamt of he bagged second position in the junior category of Preliminary Dressage. He lost the first position by a narrow 0.64 percentile,but managed to get 60.36 per cent in the preliminary dressage test the same as the highest result in the senior category. The result showed that Zoravar was at the same level as seniors even better because he underwent the same tests as the seniors. It was only two hours after the competition that I got to know my results. I never thought I would be able to compete so well, Zoravar,who rode on his horses,Prowler and Rebellion,said. At present,Zoravar is eagerly waiting for the world ranking,which will be out in December. That month will also decide if he will get a berth in the 2010 FEI World Cup. I want to check my world ranking because it will give me a fair idea about where I stand. I am hopeful of making it to the world cup. I have taken my first step into the competitive world,and it will only get tough after this. I just want to keep winning, he smiled.
