Focus on Asian Games,with one eye on London 2012

For 20-year-old show jumper Kapilesh Bhate,who rode into the limelight recently by winning the Escon Spring Club Jumping event in Dortmund.....

For 20-year-old show jumper Kapilesh Bhate,who rode into the limelight recently by winning the Escon Spring Club Jumping event in Dortmund,Germany,a good performance at the Asian Games in November 2010 is the top priority.

A lot of people think that my primary aim is the London Olympics which is also my horses name but I and my coach Phillip Schober are concentrating on a successful Asian Games, Bhate told The Indian Express from Germany.

The victory at Dortmund means a lot to me. It has definitely put me on the map, said the young rider. He and Schober have chalked out a plan to gradually increase his height class,in order to qualify for the Asian Games. We have set a target for each week until the Games about what height I should be competing at,during a particular time. I have been riding at 130-135 cm and plan to move on to 140-145 cm. After I pass that hurdle,I will try 150 cm,which is the Asian Games individual qualifying mark, he said.

Show-jumping is to Germany what cricket is to Indians,and Bhates win came as a huge upset from an upstart for the local challengers there. And Bhate says that training at the Sportpferde Center,Rothenburg under Schober and Klaus Mayr did him a world of good. However,he still feels he needs to shift to a higher level.

Aiming higher

My decision to train at Rothenburg under Phillip and Klaus in February last year changed my life completely. I learnt the importance of taking care of the horse and how when they live a happy life,it reflects in their riding. But as we aim higher,our level of training should also increase and thus we have shifted to the Deutsche Olympiade Komitte Fuer Reiterei stables in Warendorf. It is where the German Olympic team train. I will receive world-class coaching from Heinrich Engemann,the German national coach,and will share stables with Olympic champion Frank Ostholt and world champions such as Bettina and Andrew Hoy, he said.

Bhate started his career in show jumping at the age of fourteen and Jayant Mule has been his mentor through the earlier stages of his career. Mule recognised his potential and put him through to Col GM Khan,then Commandant of the NDA and a gold medallist at the 1982 Asian Games. He received a lot of support from the NDA and was allowed to ride their horses. His greatest achievement before Dortmund was in 2006,where he came fourth in the young riders World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Bhate incidentally won a major title for India internationally after 27 years,since the 1982 success.

Bhates coach is just a year older to him and this,he feels,is one of the key aspects to their success. Since Phillip is just a year elder to me,it is easier to relate to him. He has tremendous experience 89 victories in the over-140 cm height category and excellent advice, he said.