The Piazza di Siena in Rome welcomes the best eight teams in the world next Friday afternoon for the second leg of the 2004 Samsung Super League nations cup series. Show jumping is the only sport hosted in this beautiful public park in the heart of the Italian capital city and this year the fixture celebrates it’s 72nd anniversary. The Piazza di Siena first opened its gates to team show jumping in 1928 when France, Poland, Spain and Italy battled it out, but equestrian competition was first staged at this prestigious venue six years earlier in 1922, and in 1926 the first international fixture was held. Many great Nations Cup clashes have taken place on this hallowed ground and, in 2004, riders will be treated to a brand new warm-up arena which has been constructed close to the location of the old sand ring. A new theatre now stands where the practice ring was previously located as careful development of the century-old park, which has been designated as a museum, continues but the Mayor of the City of Rome remains hugely supportive of the annual CSIO which has a style and glamour all its own. Adding an extra edge to this year’s event is, of course, the build-up to the Olympic Games in Athens and the show organisers have invited riders from several non-Super League nations along with the eight Super League teams. Markus Fuchs heads the four-strong Swiss contingent while Sweden, Brazil, Liechtenstein, Japan and the Olympic host-country of Greece will all be represented over the weekend but these riders will only be spectators as the second leg of the Samsung series gets underway on Friday afternoon. Germany holds the lead after Round 1 in La Baule three weeks ago but the French, reigning champions and winners in Rome last season, are just three points behind on the leaderboard at this early stage. A completely new German line-up has been selected on this occasion including Mylene Diederichsmeier, Eve Bitter, Heinrich Hermann Engemann and Pia-Luise Aufrecht but the French selectors have retained Michel Hecart, Christian Hermon and Michel Robert who all competed in La Baule while adding Eugenie Angot, so impressive when fourth with Cigale du Tallis at the recent FEI World Cup Final, and last year's surprise partnership of Laurent Goffinet and Flipper d’Elle. Belgium currently lies third and send just two of their La Baule team – Ludo Philippaerts and Jean-Claude Vangeenberghe – while Stanny Van Paesschen, Dirk Demeersman and Maurice Van Roosbroeck make up the remainder of the squad. A new rule for the Samsung Super League this season ensures that nations are entitled to send five riders to every venue with four then selected for the team. It was at the Piazza di Siena last May that British rider Nick Skelton gave notice of his return to top-level show jumping after his struggle to recover from a career-threatening neck injury sustained in 2000. He has established a significant rapport with the stallion Arko and the British squad remains intact with Michael Whitaker, Robert Smith, Richard Davenport and Scott Smith all named for the Italian fixture. America’s Super League debut was highly impressive and Peter Wylde is the only absentee from the US line-up which includes Laura Kraut, winner of the Grand Prix in Rome two years ago, Candice King, Judy Garofalo, Kimberly Frey and Super League debutante Sheila Burke. Olympic champion Jeroen Dubbeldam is joined by Gert-Jan Bruggink, Wout-Jan Van der Schans, Eric Van der Vleuten and Albert Zoer to fly the Dutch flag and, sharing sixth place with the Irish on the leaderboard, the Dutch will be looking for a bigger performance this time around while the Irish are still smarting from their disappointing result in La Baule. Apart from Peter Charles’ disastrous outing with Pershing however the Irish were not all that bad and Kevin Babington, only recently arrived from his home in the USA, swept to victory with Carling King in the hotly-contested La Baule Grand Prix. There is a quiet confidence in the Emerald Isle that this incredibly consistent partnership could produce something special in Athens in three months’ time. Babington is joined by Cian O’Connor, Billy Twomey, Marion Hughes and Jessica Kurten. If the Irish were somewhat hampered by Peter Charles’ 37-fault total in La Baule then the same could be said for the Italians who finished last in the opening leg. Massimo Grossato and Emanuele Fiorelli put up creditable performances but elimination for Bruno Chimirri in round one and then 22 faults second time out put huge pressure on the team. Robert Arioldo also clocked up a big score of 20 in his opening effort but showed great resolve to improve to a four-fault result next time out and while Chimirri has been dropped for the home fixture Arioldi joins Grossato, Fiorelli, Gianni Govoni and Juan Carlos Garcia, who underlined his potential when joint-sixth at the FEI World Cup Final in Milan last month. In 2003 the Italians finished last on their home ground while France scored their second victory in a row in Rome. The French team looks very strong again but the Germans will be slow to relinquish their early advantage. Maintaining their authority at the head of the Samsung Super League leaderboard will keep them in the right frame of mind as Athens looms large on the horizon. Team superiority and strength in the Super League will count for a great deal this season and a good early individual performance could clinch an Olympic call-up for riders so there is much to play for at the second leg of the Samsung Super League series in Rome on Friday. For further details on CSIO Rome and the second leg of the Samsung Super League 2004 contact Press Officer Caterina Vagnozzi at equiequipe-csio@libero.it or telephone ++39 063218857. Website address is www.piazzadisiena.com. MBPtv BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE COMPETITION IN ROME: RAI (Italy) Host Live/Delayed Live RTE (Ireland) Live/Delayed Live TVE (Spain) Live/Delayed Live Equidia (France) Live/Delayed Live 28 May 18.00, repeat 30 May 22.00 Eurosport (Pan Europe) Highlights 2 June 23.00, repeat 3 June 09.00 Finnish Sport TV (Finland) Highlights Sport TV (Portugal) Highlights XXP (Germany) Highlights 6 June CNBC Europe Highlights 12 June Fox World (Middle East) Highlights Horse TV (USA) Highlights CNBC Asia Highlights 13 June ESPN Star Sports (Asia, Taiwan & India 9 June 18.00, repeat 10, 12, 15 June. Also 11 June 15.00. M-Net (Pan Africa) Highlights 18 June 23.30, repeat 19, 20 June SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE LEADERBOARD (after Round 1 at La Baule): Germany 10 points France 7 points Belgium 5 points Great Britain 4 points USA 3 points Equal 6. Ireland and The Netherlands 1.5 Italy 0.5. SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE 2004 CALENDAR OF EVENTS: ROUND 1, La Baule (Fra) 6-9 May; ROUND 2, Rome (Ita) 27-30 May; ROUND 3, Lucerne (Sui) 3-6 June: ROUND 4, Rotterdam (Ned) 17-20 June; ROUND 5, Aachen (Ger) 13-18 July; ROUND 6, Hickstead (GBR) 21-25 July; ROUND 7, Dublin (Irl) 4-8 August; ROUND 8 and FINAL, Barcelona (Esp) 16-19 September. SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE – NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION! You can access all the latest Samsung Super League news and information on website www.samsungsuperleague.com and don’t forget that Biographies on all Riders competing in the series are available at http://bios.horsesport.org. Want to know more? You can check the full rules for the Samsung Super League Series on the FEI website, section reference – rules http://www.horsesport.org/fei/reference_03/ref_03_02.html. The Samsung Super League consists of the eight most prestigious horse shows at which the world’s eight best national teams compare their merit. The Super League is connected to the Samsung Nations Cup Series through a promotion/relegation system at the end of each season. Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s largest electronics companies, is committed to supporting international sporting events thereby returning corporate profits to the public and working towards a more harmonious and equitable society.
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