Team China remains in the lead following the cross country element of the Eventing competition at the Hangzhou Asian Games. China’s Alex Hua Tian leads the individual competition with 27, just 0.9 less than Thailand’s Korntawat Samran who sits in second.

The Chinese Team, made up of Ruiji Liang, Yingfeng Bao, Huadong Sun and Alex Hua Tian, put in a strong Dressage performance to give the team a score of 85.20, putting them firmly in the lead after the Dressage phase on September 30.

Following the cross country, just a few penalties were added to the team’s score with them finishing day two on 86.80. Bao, Sun, and Hua Tian remain on their Dressage scores as they approach the final Jumping phase on October 2 at Tonglu Equestrian Centre.

A new leader

China's Hua Tian takes the lead in the individual Eventing competition astride his 10-year-old stallion, Poseidons Admiral. Hua Tian currently holds the 52nd position in the highly competitive FEI Eventing World Athlete Rankings. His equestrian journey boasts an impressive resume, having graced prestigious events such as the FEI World Equestrian Games, the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Hong Kong, as well as the World Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro, among others.

Notably, Hua Tian's talent shone brightly at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, where he clinched the Silver and Bronze medals, respectively, in the individual Eventing category. A familiar face on the European Eventing circuit, where he has navigated the challenges of CCI5*-L competitions, he lives and trains in the picturesque Cheshire, UK.

Hot on the heels of Hua Tian from an individual point of view is Thai rider Korntawat Samran with Billy Elmy on 27.90. Sitting at 186th in the FEI Eventing World Athlete Rankings, Samran has a lot of experience at this level. This is his second Asian Games with Thailand winning bronze in the team Eventing in the previous Games in 2018 (Jakarta-Palembang) with Samran as part of the team.

Sitting in third in the individual competition is Hong Kong’s Annie Ho with Jockey Club Miss Matana on 28.30. Ho was also part of Hong Kong’s Dressage team that took bronze at Hangzhou a few days ago. Ho was part of the 2010 (Guangzhou), 2014 (Incheon) and 2018 (Jakarta-Palembang) Asian Games. Team Hong Kong took bronze at the 2014 games with Ho on the team.

Team India are out

Moving over to the team event, China leads on 86.80 with 2018 team winners Japan (Kenta Hiranaga, Kazuhiro Yoshizawa, Yusuke Nakajima and Shoto Kusumoto) on 92.70 and Thailand (Supap Khaw-Ngam, Weerapat Pitakanonda, Preecha Khunjan and Kornatawat Samran) on 93.90. Hong Kong currently sits in fourth. Due to an elimination, the Indian team is now unable to participate in the team competition.

12 athletes finish on Dressage scores

The cross country course at Hangzhou, designed by Germany’s Christian Zehe, is 4010 metres long with the time allowed being 7 minutes and 43 seconds. The course requires 30 efforts to complete the 22 fences and combinations. Two riders were eliminated: Japan’s Kenta Hiranaga with Duke of Sussex due to three refusals, and overnight Dressage leaders Ashish Vivek Limaye with Willy Be Done. Seven other athletes picked up penalties during the cross country phase and five of these gained time penalties. Twelve athletes finished on their Dressage score as they move to the last day of the competition.

The final phase...

October 2 sees the final phase of the Eventing competition, the Jumping phase. This begins with the second horse inspection at 0800 local time. Horses that are sound and fit for competition then move to the final jumping phase that starts at 0930.

The Jumping phase will see the athletes tackle a 115cm course in reverse team order including India’s riders who will go first. Although team China sit ahead with 5.90 faults separating them from Team Japan, and 7.10 between them and Team Thailand who currently sit in bronze position, there really is all to play for as we enter the final phase.

FULL RESULTS HERE

Jos Lansink’s world-class Dutch team had to pull out all the stops to beat Australia for the Challenge Cup tonight at the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 at the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, Spain. 

Carrying four faults apiece, it came down to a duel between the two sides in a second-round jump-off against the clock, and it was Willem Greve who clinched it for The Netherlands with a fast clear from Highway TN. 

Copybook round

Dutch pathfinder, Jur Vrieling, put in a copybook round with Long John Silver 3 NOP but Kim Emmen and Inflame Go lowered the penultimate oxer on the 14-fence track and then Greve’s stallion put a foot in water, so there was a lot hanging on Maikel van der Vleuten’s anchor ride with Beauville Z NOP.

Because despite only fielding three team members, the Australians kept all the pressure on when their openers, Chris Burton and Chedington Hazy Toulana, registered their only mistake at the oxer at fence four. A wonderful clear from Hilary Scott and the 16-year-old grey mare Oak’s Milky Way, and another from Jamie Kermond with Yandoo Oaks Constellation left them with nothing more to add.

So only a foot-perfect run from van der Vleuten and his Tokyo 2020 Olympic individual bronze-medal-winning partner Beauville Z would keep the Dutch in the game now, and when they delivered and Team Mexico slipped to an eight-fault tally for third place then it would take a jump-off to separate the two leadings sides.

Burton, who only fully focused on Jumping last year following a long and distinguished career as a world-class Eventing rider, didn’t hold back in the race against the clock. And although he hit the second element of the penultimate double, his time of 42.82 seconds set a really strong target.

But Greve shaved more than a second off that when posting 41.43 seconds to clinch it with a classic clear. As he said afterwards however “Chris put the pressure quite high even though he had that mistake. I could choose to go for the clear but with an unlucky rail you wouldn’t make it, so we said we’d just go for it. My horse is naturally fast so we tried to be a little bit faster, and then if I had a rail down I would still be faster than him, and I think we chose the right tactic and it worked out well!”

Expected

Dutch Chef d’Equipe, Jos Lansink, had expected his team to qualify for tomorrow’s finale but said he was very happy with today’s Challenge Cup victory. “We came with another goal, on paper we had a very strong team but the first day wasn’t the way we like to go, everybody had a small mistake although the horses jumped excellent. The riders know exactly what could be better and that they did today”.

Vrieling admitted that he “made a big riding mistake on the first day on Thursday which was stupid, so we were focused on doing good today and you have to be happy with a horse that jumps like that - Long John was amazing!”, he said. 

Kim Emmen said she was surprised by the fault she picked up at the second-last in the first round, “but he (Inflame Go) jumped great and I’m happy with the win!”.

And Greve was of course delighted with Highway TN’s performance that clinched it.

“At the beginning of the season my other good horse had an injury, Grandorado TN, so I was never thinking in April/May/June to be sitting here. But during the EEF series he developed so well that we aimed for Rotterdam and he won the Grand Prix. Step-by-step everything I asked of him he did, he answered unbelievably, and he ended up in the Europeans in Milan and now we are sitting here. So he had an opportunity and he took it with both hands! I’m proud of him, he deserves to have a big win like this!”, he said of his 11-year-old horse. 

Plenty to celebrate

Despite having to settle for second place today, the Australians had plenty to celebrate too. They really threw it down to a team consisting of some of the sport’s biggest stars and produced a superb performance against all the odds. 

“It was always going to be a tough fight. It’s amazing, there was some pressure on us tonight and I’m so proud of all of us!”, said Scott whose mother, Alice Cameron, rather remarkably bred two of the horses on the Australian team - her daughter’s mare and Kermond’s 17-year-old gelding. 

Talking about how the Australian effort came together, Kermond said, “we really pushed our Federation, we wanted to come here because we wanted to gain experience….We were hoping we were going to have four (riders) with Izzy Stone, but things didn’t quite go the way she wanted at the last show so she decided not to come. The first day we jumped (Thursday) we just think the jumps we had were a little bit from a lack of experience recently but we regrouped and we thought our horses were jumping well and we had a shot tonight. We needed everything to go right with the three of us and it nearly did so we’ll take it! We made the Dutch work for it!”, he added.

Van der Vleuten agreed that indeed they did. 

Tribute

Earlier in tonight’s post-competition press conference, Spanish course designer Santiago Varela, who paid an emotional tribute to his friend and former FEI Jumping Director Marco Fuste who so sadly passed away in January this year, said that this year’s Challenge Cup was something special. 

“The Dutch team did a great job but they had to make more of an effort than expected because the Australians did a super-great job! Good sport is like that, and a win is never easy here in Barcelona whether you are in the Challenge Cup or in the Final!”

So van der Vleuten concurred. “As Santi said it wasn’t a present for us today, Australia made it quite difficult and they only had three riders so they did a fantastic job, and also in the jump-off I thought he (Chris Burton) did a great round. He really put the pressure on Willem - they didn’t make it easy!”

Now the attention turns to tomorrow’s closing competition in which the top eight nations from Thursday’s first round do battle for the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ 2023 title. It kicks off at 15.00 local time so don’t miss a hoofbeat…..

Result

Team Great Britain got off to a flying start when topping today’s first round of the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 at the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, Spain with the only zero scoreline of the afternoon.

Foot-perfect runs from pathfinder Tim Gredley (Medoc de Toxandria), Robert Whitaker (Vermento) and anchorman Harry Charles (Aralyn Blue) meant that the 12 faults collected by Lily Attwood (Cor-Leon VD Vlierbeek Z) would be their discard. They finished a full fence ahead of Brazil, Germany and Switzerland who filled second, third and fourth places with four faults apiece and separated only by their combined times. 

The top eight nations have qualified for Sunday’s title-decider in which they will all start again on a clean sheet, and the remaining countries that have made the cut are the defending champions from Belgium and Team USA who each posted eight-fault results today, and Ireland and France who finished with 12. 

Team Mexico just missed out when also putting 12 on the board but in a slower time, and on Saturday night they will once again defend the Challenge Cup trophy they won so memorably 12 months ago.

Meanwhile the battle for the single qualifying spot on offer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has been whittled down to a two-way contest between Brazil and the USA because the other contenders from Mexico, Argentina, Italy and Uzbekistan didn’t make it to Sunday’s second round which already looks set to be another cracking contest.

Think about

Spanish course designer Santiago Varela gave them lots to think about today with a 14-fence track with plenty of height and curving lines that tested power and accuracy. The vertical with a yellow plank on top at fence nine and the penultimate double of verticals were the bogeys of the day.

Harry Charles clinched top spot for the British with a superb clear with the 12-year-old mare Aralyn Blue. Talking about the challenges of the course he said fence nine, which followed the beefy Longines triple combination, “was on an unusual line and angle, you were coming straight out of the corner. You could see at the start of the class the horses weren’t jumping it well. I just made sure to give myself a bit more room there. 

“Coming to the double of verticals (fence 13) it was either five or six (strides) and on the six you take away a bit of the power, slowing down so much to jump it. For me it was a waiting five and my mare was able to have a bit of room and kept the power, so not too many problems there for me”, he explained.

Like all the British he was delighted with today’s result. “I’m really proud of us today actually!”, he said. “My horse is pretty new at this level, she’s only done one Nations Cup prior to this and it was a tough enough course, not overly big but delicate with some fun lines in there! The other guys did a good job, there were two clears already (for the British team) so I luckily could go in and do the clear”. 

Asked if he felt under pressure he replied “today probably wasn’t the most pressure I’ve ridden under but we wanted to be in there on Sunday so there was that to it”. And he admitted that the result for his team was a bit of a surprise.

“Probably an unexpected result if you told us at the start of the day, but we’ll take it and hopefully we can do something similar on Sunday! We will go back to a blank slate unfortunately (in Sunday’s final round), it would be nice if we carried it through, but it’s been really good and hopefully we will be in good enough nick for Sunday”, he added. 

Anticipation

There’s a lot of anticipation of a great final day. The Swiss have never won the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ title but their fourth place finish today gives them another opportunity to clinch it. However it hasn’t been plain sailing ahead of this year’s event.

“We’ve always been a bit unlucky with this Final, and this year the horse from Edouard is injured and Bryan (Balsiger) lost his horses and the horse of Pius (Schwizer) was injured so we don’t have our “A” team. But still our horses jumped good today and we’ll see if Elian (Baumann) goes on Sunday. We won’t be the favourites on Sunday but we’ll try!”, said Steve Guerdat who, just a few short weeks ago, added the individual European title to the Olympic gold he won back in 2012.

“We’ve had a very good year and it would be a great way to finish, and for the horses to finish as well. My horse didn’t have a rail down in the whole Nations Cup season - St Gallen double-clear, Aachen double-clear, Dublin double-clear and now clear today so I hope I can do a clear again! We are here, we will try, the sport is great and we are looking forward to Sunday now!”, said the man who sits third in the current world rankings.

Focus

In contrast, the focus for Brazil is fully on that Olympic qualification and the battle against the USA. Pathfinder Marlon Modolo Zanotell and Grand Slam VDL produced a perfect clear today and team veteran, Rodrigo Pessoa, did likewise. Pessoa has won Olympic and World titles and is as hungry as ever to help take his country to Paris next summer. His top ride, the 10-year-old gelding Major Tom, made nothing of today’s course.

“It’s a freak of a horse, the intelligence, the ability to jump, the whole package. He’s very straightforward and has a lot of blood, a lot of temperament, but at the end he wants to jump clear, that’s all he wants to do”, Pessoa said this evening.

Asked about the recent addition of former Portuguese rider Diniz to the Brazilian side, he said she is a real asset. “Yes, she’s super-experienced and her horse is really good and it’s always good to have one more - the more soldiers the better!” 

As for Sunday, “it’s just about us the USA!”, he said. “They are a big nation with a very strong team as well. Today was just a warm-up and we have to go again. I think it went well today, the two mistakes that we had (a fence down each for Stephan de Freitas Barcha and Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio and Luciana Diniz with Vertigo du Desert), were silly mistakes that I think we can get rid of, but better to do those little ones today than on Sunday!”

Before that, the Challenge Cup promises plenty more excitement on Saturday night, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Result here 

Further information here 

Malaysia’s Qabil Ambak has won his first ever Asian Games gold medal, scoring 75.780 in the Dressage Individual Competition, and realising a 25 year-long dream. The silver and bronze medals were won by Hong Kong’s Jacqueline Wing Ying Siu and India’s Anush Agarwalla respectively.

This isn’t Ambak’s first time on the Asian Games’ podium, having won medals at the Asian Games with team and individual entries in 1998 (Bangkok), 2002 (Busan), 2006 (Doha), 2010 (Guangzhou) and 2018 (Indonesia) across both Jumping and Dressage. This is, however, the first gold medal that Ambak has won, and the first Malaysian gold in the Individual Dressage. At the last Asian Games in 2018, Ambak and 17-year-old gelding, Rosenstolz, took silver in Jakarta-Palembang.

25 years of trying

“This has been a long wait for me, it’s been 25 years trying to get a gold and finally, today, I achieved it,” said Ambak. “It means a lot to me, especially as this time my whole family is here, and my kids. This is their first Asian Games. It’s something that will be quite memorable event for me.”

“I wasn’t expecting a medal in the beginning because I had a new horse I was supposed to bring so I was just going to do my best. But then, at the end, I felt my long-time partner was a better choice and that’s when I felt, ok, there is a chance.”

The competition was fierce with Hong Kong’s Jacqueline Wing Ying Siu and Jockey Club Huittharien taking silver on a score of 73.450, and India’s Anush Agarwalla scoring 73.030 on Etro. In Tuesday’s team event, Siu recorded the highest individual score with Agarwalla in second position and Ambak in fourth, although Malaysia did not put forward a team for the Team Dressage Competition.

Returning champion takes silver

Siu’s test showed her experience at this level, and with her entering as the defending champion, the pressure was certainly on. Her 73.450 score put her into the lead before Ambak finished his test. 

“What a day, all of the riders agree that, today, the sport has been phenomenal,” said Siu. “We’ve all pushed ourselves to the maximum of our ability and our horses’ ability and to have these results just showcases the talent that we have in Asia. The sport of Dressage is growing and we are producing exceptional results, so it’s a great day for sport.” 

Gold medal Team Dressage athlete takes bronze

Two of India’s gold medal winning Dressage team made it through to the individual competition. Agarwalla claimed bronze but unfortunately Hriday Vipul Chheda was eliminated on Chemxpro Emerald.

In all, 15 horse and rider combinations stepped into the arena at Tonglu Equestrian Centre, following the qualification round on September 28, which followed the team medal competition the previous day. The test was Intermediate I level in contrast to Saint Georges that was used for the Team Dressage competition. As it was a freestyle, the tests were set to music of the athlete’s choice with a floorplan including compulsory movements as per FEI level 1. The maximum score for the technical movements in the test was 200 with an additional 200 points being awarded for artistic elements including harmony, choreography, creativity, difficulty and more. The average of the technical and artistic scores gave the final mark.

China’s athletes put in a strong performance 

The first rider into the ring was Yeh Hsiu-Hua from Chinese Taipei with Ewoud with a score of 69.030. This was a good mark for the pair with their average score at Intermediate I sitting at 65.4%. The pair finished in 8th after the competition concluded. Two riders from China’s bronze Dressage Team competed as individuals with Jiayi Rao and Geniaal claiming 6th place with a score of 71.410, and Chao Lan and Sergio Leone taking 7th on 71.160.

This concludes the Dressage phase of the 19th Asian Games with the first horse inspection for the Eventing phase happening on September 29 followed by the Eventing team and individual Dressage on September 30, and the cross country phase for team and individual on October 1. The concluding phase of the Eventing competition, the Jumping, takes place on October 2, after the second horse inspection that happens at 0800 local time. 

Tonglu Equestrian Centre will host all equestrian events of the 19th Asian Games. On the location, Ambak commented: “After six Asian Games that I have participated in, I think this is one of the best facilities I have seen for the horses and the riders.”

Team Italy will be first into the arena when the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 gets underway tomorrow afternoon in Barcelona, Spain.

The draw, conducted by Show Director Daniel Garcia Giro and FEI Jumping Director Todd Hinde, took place this evening and the order-of-go for the 15 competing nations is:

1, Italy; 2, Argentina;  3, Uzbekistan; 4, Belgium; 5, Germany; 6, USA; 7, Great Britain; 8, Mexico; 9, Brazil; 10, Australia; 11, The Netherlands; 12, Ireland; 13, Switzerland; 14, Spain; 15, France.  

CSIO Barcelona is celebrating its 111th edition of international competition this year and the Real Club de Polo, home to Jumping at the Olympic Games in the Spanish city back in 1992, again provides the perfect back-drop to the season-closer that gathers the world’s best teams for one final annual clash.

Winning the coveted Longines trophy is what it is all about, and the Chefs d’Equipe are full of enthusiasm for a great week of sport and filled with praise for the exciting transformation taking place at the Real Club de Polo as it modernises and expands its facilities.

For the teams from Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, USA and Uzbekistan there is an extra challenge this week as they are all chasing down the single ticket on offer to countries not already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The defending champions are Team Belgium.

What the team managers had to say…..

Vitor Alves Teixeira, Argentina - “it is great to be here again. This year is very important to us because we try to get a place at the Olympics and it’s not going to be easy!”

Stephen Lamb, Australia - “we are also very pleased to be here. Having secured an Olympic berth it’s important for us to compete as a team, we don’t get the opportunity very often. We have only three riders here but we look forward to the opportunity!”

Peter Weinberg, Belgium - “we will try to do our best - last year we were very good but every team is going to be trying very hard and I wish them all good luck, but for us the best of luck!”

Pedro Paulo Lacerda, Brazil - “we are very happy to be here again and this is a very important week for us, fighting to get a place at the Olympic Games.”

Carolo Lopez-Quesada, Spain - “Barcelona is a nice place and we think there will be a perfect ambience for this week. I’d like to say that Daniel and his team did a great job to be here in this moment so congratulations and good luck to everybody!”

Henk Nooren, France - “it always feels good to come back to Barcelona, we have to congratulate the organisation for this beautiful new building. Thank goodness we do not have this pressure of qualifying because we invited ourselves to the Games in Paris next year! Let the best team win!” 

Di Lampard, Great Britain - “it’s always wonderful to bring a team back to Barcelona. Congratulations on this wonderful new building! I’m very pleased with the draw, number seven. We have brought a team that’s getting experience as they go, and a team of 10-year-old horses as well. We are looking forward to the competition as always here!”

Otto Becker, Germany - “it was a nice surprise today to come here and see all the improvements. This is the best Nations Cup series for me and this is the best place for the Final. Our whole team and I are very pleased and happy to be here!”

Michael Blake, Ireland - “it’s great to see the improvements here and as Otto said it’s great to be back in Barcelona. It’s such a wonderful city and the people here are so welcoming to us and we love being here. We are hopeful of a good result, we’ve had a good year and we’d like it to continue.”

Speaking on behalf of Marco Porro, Italy - “it is a big pleasure for Italy to be here again. This is the last chance for us to get to get to Paris so we will try to do our very best. Good luck to everyone!”

Mark Laskin, Mexico - “it’s wonderful to be back in Barcelona. For sure it’s one of our favourite stops on the showjumping calendar. Thank you to Daniel and his team for all their hard work and hospitality as usual. I feel I have a fairly decent team here. Last year we won the consolation final (The Challenge Cup) and it is our intention to improve on that this year.”

Peter van der Waaij, Assistant to Jos Lansink, The Netherlands - “For The Netherlands Barcelona has a special place in our hearts since of course here in 1992 the Dutch became Olympic champions! The four riders we brought are all former winners here at the Nations Cup Final so we are very, very motivated to close off the season and delighted to be back here!”

Michel Sorg, Switzerland - thank you to Daniel and whole team, it’s always a pleasure to be here. It’s an amazing venue and it’s so impressive to see this new building today. We are really looking forward to a great show once again. Switzerland has never won (the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final) so maybe this year! All the best to all the teams, we will have great sport and good luck!”

Robert Ridland, USA - we are delighted to be back and as everyone has said Daniel, it’s just impressive, not just this building but how you have reconfigured the entire arena - it just looks spectacular! We brought a strong team here because like many we are trying to qualify for the Olympic Games. Most of the riders on our team are the ones that qualified us to get here and we are delighted to be back!”

Nodribek Ibragimov, Uzbekistan - “thank you to the organisers, the venue and facilities are very good and Barcelona treats us so well! Our riders and our horses have worked hard to get here and we wish all the finalists the best of luck”.

Qualifying round

The action gets underway tomorrow with the first qualifying round which is open to all 15 nations and begins at 14.00 local time. The best eight teams from this round will go through to Sunday’s title-decider while the remaining nations will battle it out in the Challenge Cup which will take place in an electric atmosphere under lights on Saturday night. 

The Final is guaranteed to be gripping from the get-go, with the single qualifying spot on offer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games giving it an even sharper edge, so don’t miss a hoofbeat……

Startlist and Results here 

Team India took the first gold medal of the Equestrian part of the Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou (CHN) on a combined score of 209.205, with China taking silver on 204.882, and Hong Kong just behind them on 204.852 to take bronze. This was the Dressage Team Competition (Individual Qualification) and marked the very start of an action-packed few days of Equestrian Sport at Tonglu Equestrian Centre.

Gold medal team

The winning team -made up of Sudipti Hajela and Chinski (66.706), Divyakriti Singh and Adrenaline Firfod (68.176), Hriday Vipul Chheda and Chemxpro Emerald (69.941) and Anush Agarwalla and Etro (71.088)- clinched the first Asian Games Gold medal in Equestrian for India since 1982.

Aged 21, Hajela is 106^th in the FEI Dressage World Rankings CDI1*/CDIO1* with the 16-year-old stallion, Chinski standing at 101 in the equivalent FEI Dressage World Rankings for Horses. According to FEI statistics, Hajela’s average test score at Saint Georges level (which is the level of the test at the Asian Games) is 64.4%, making this a really strong performance. Team mate Singh currently sits in 90^th position on the FEI World Rankings CDI1*/CDIO1* with 14-year-old gelding, Adrenaline Firford 85^th at the same level rankings.

As with Hajela, the FEI statistics show that 68.176 was a strong performance from Singh with the average test score at this level sitting at 65.7. Chheda currently occupies 51^st position in the FEI Dressage World Rankings CDI1*/CDIO1* with gelding Chemxpro Emerald sitting at 43^rd at the same level. As per Hajela and Singh, Ccheda’s score beats his average by over 2%. Agarwalla’s test on nine year old stallion, Etro, was a particular highlight at over 4% more than the average score at Saint Georges level.

Hajela was the first to compete and set a good benchmark for the team. Singh followed before Chheda put in a well-balanced performance. Last to compete for the team was Agarwalla who produced a score of 71.088, very much in line with the consistent performances the duo has shown this year.

 This is the first-ever Dressage gold medal India has earned in Dressage at the Asian Games. India’s previous best Team Dressage performance at the Asian Games was in 1986 in Seoul (KOR), where the team took bronze behind South Korea (gold) and Japan (silver). 

Strong performance for Team China

Team China claimed silver with their team consisting of Zhuoqin Huang (68.176), Jiayi Rao (69.265) and Chao Lan (67.441). Together the team scored 204.882. This is Huang’s fifth appearance at an Asian Games with 2002 (Pusan), 2010 (Guangzhou), 2014 (Incheon) and 2018 (Jakarta- Palembang) listed as achievements. The silver medal won at Hangzhou isn’t Huang’s first as Team China claimed this at the 2010 Games too. Lan is also not new to the Asian Games, making his debut in 2014 in Incheon (KOR). It was Rao’s first Asian Games appearance with stallion Geniaal who’s demonstrated consistent form at this level over the last year.

Bronze for Hong Kong, but Siu’s one to watch

Bronze was awarded to Team Hong Kong who missed out on silver by a small margin. The team was made up of Samantha Grace Chan (65.353), Yuen Yan Annie Ho (68.323) and Jacqueline Wing Ying Siu (71.176), with Siu scoring the highest across the competition. Whilst this was Chan’s first Asian Games, Ho and Siu have previous form with Ho competing in 2010 in Guangzhou (CHN), 2014 in Incheon KOR) and 2018  in Jakarta-Palembang (INA). Ho is also part of the Eventing team for Hong Kong while Siu claimed individual gold in the Dressage test at the previous Asian Games.

All change

At the 2018 Jakarta- Palembang Asian Games, the Team medals were completely different with Japan, South Korea and Thailand taking gold, silver and bronze positions respectively. This year, Japan took 4^th on 202.324, Thailand took 5^th on 194.118, with South Korea being eliminated.

Although the team competition is over, there’s still all to play for the Individual category. All successful competitors now move through to a second round of individual qualification on 27 September.

FULL RESULTS

The ISH, WESTF and MIPAAF Studbooks stole the limelight at the 2023 edition of the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses which drew to a close at Lanaken in Belgium yesterday.

In a particularly remarkable week for both Irish riders and horses they claimed all three medals in the 5-Year-Old division, while Harry Allen steered the Italian-bred Kumina Della Caccia to win the 7-Year-Old category and Germany’s Katrina Eckermann claimed the 6-Year-Old title with the Westphalian gelding Cascajall.

A massive 694 horses lined out at the hugely popular event that ran over four days from 21 to 24 September, once again attracting breeders and enthusiasts from all around the globe.

5-Year-Olds

A total of 235 budding talents lined out in Thursday’s first qualifier for the 5-Year-Old title won by the Oldenburg Studbook’s Castlefield Dancer (Presley Boy/Cento), owned by Castlefield Breeding Farm and bred by CDM GmBH with Ireland’s Jason Foley in the saddle. 

The following day it was the BWP mare Simply the Best X (Ermitage Kalone/Indoctro), owned and bred by Johan Bourguignon and ridden by Morocco’s Vincent Zacharias Bourguignon, who topped the second qualifier. There were 39 starters in yesterday’s final in which 11 went through to the deciding jump-off against the clock.

Foley, individual Junior European champion in 2018, had two through to the closing stages and finished eleventh with Castlefield Dancer who picked up eight faults against the clock and eighth with the ISH SVS Symphony (Comme Il Faut 5/Air Jordan) who posted the quickest time of 37.00 seconds but left one on the floor.

That still left three Irish-breds in the race, and they took gold, silver and bronze. Ger O’Neill, twice a gold medallist at these Championships, took the bronze with the bay gelding Ballyshan BF Super Hero (Celtic Hero BZ/Lux Z) owned by Martin Egan and bred by Gary Doherty, breaking the beam in 39.21 seconds.

Silver went to Boleybawn Alvaro (Dominator 2000 Z/Crown Z) ridden by 19-year-old rising star Niamh McEvoy. Bred by Ronan Rothwell and owned by the breeder and GBBS International Ltd. the stallion crossed the line in 37.72 seconds. 

And Mikey Pender clinched the gold with HHS Ocala (Urano de Cargigny/Wandor van de Mispelaere), owned and bred by Bravo Hughes Ltd. who jumped clear in 37.22 seconds.

Pender, who will celebrate his 24th birthday later this week, is one of Ireland’s most exciting talents and has been medalling at these Championships since 2016. This was his sixth time on the podium but his first time to stand on the very top step. 

“In the past I was very close to it a few times, but I was always just not fast enough. I’m very happy that everything came together today. I would also like to thank my entire team who helped make me to make this possible. HHS Ocala is a very careful and competitive horse and I think he is really a horse for the future”, he said. 

6-Year-Olds

From a field of 256 starters, Katrin Eckermann and the Westphalian gelding Cascajall (Casalico/Comme Il Faut) topped the line-up in the opening 6-Year-Old qualifier on Thursday while the Zangersheide stallion Ely Des Rosiers Z (Emerald/Thunder vd Zuuthoeve), owned and bred by Herik Duran and ridden by Belgium’s Nathan Budd, won Friday’s second qualifier in this division.

A total of 40 combinations lined out in yesterday’s medal-decider in which 10 went through to the jump-off and four jumped double-clear. It was Germany’s Alexander Uekermann and the KWPN IB Easy (Emerald /Dallas), owned by IB Berger GmBH and bred by E. Kuijer, who just missed a place on the podium when they stopped the clock in 36.88 seconds.

Dutch athlete Jeimer Hoekstra clinched bronze with the Zangersheide gelding Maddox vh Haringvliet Z (Monte Bellini/Ogano Sitte), owned by the rider and bred by A. Hoekstra. Their time of 35.79 in the last round saw them just 0.04 seconds behind the silver medallists from Ireland, 23-year-old Leah Stack and the ISH mare Laurina (Stakkato Gold/Cruising), owned and bred by the late Dr Noel Cawley. 

Germany’s Eckermann previously won the 6-Year-Old title with the mare Chao Lee in 2019 and she did it all again yesterday with Cascajall, owned by Otmar Eckermann and bred by Alfons Baumann, who crossed the line for victory in 34.06 seconds. Her second ride, Viva Fly (Vivant van de Hellinck/Starpower) slotted into twelfth place.

“Both Cascajall and Viva Fly came to my stable in June. Before that, it was my father who did all the preparatory work. After that it all went quickly, but both horses have a lot of quality. Due to the busy schedule of international shows, I only had a few days to prepare for this world championship last week. I would therefore also like to expressly thank my entire team at home”, said the 33-year-old rider.

7-Year-Olds

The 7-Year-Old category attracted 203 entries, and it was the Holsteiner stallion Kannandillo (Kannan/Candillo 3), owned by Rödl Sportpferde GmbH and Stefan Rödl and bred by Nicole Hanneken, who won Thursday’s opening Two-Phase competition with Angelos Touloupis from Greece onboard. 

The following day it was Belgium’s Gilles Thomas and the Zangersheide mare Lavanoche T&L Z (Lavallino Ter Klomp/Bentley van de Heffinck) owned by Nieuwenhof, Robert Geens and bred by Guy Vandeven, who slotted into pole position. But it would be the MIPAAF mare Kumina Della Caccia who would reign supreme in yesterday’s 40-starter final test.

There were 11 through to the jump-off and neither of the previous day’s winners made the cut when both picked up 12 faults in the first round.

In another super-close finish, four combinations jumped double-clear and Belgium’s Virginie Thonon and the Zangersheide mare Scala du Piedroux Z (Silver 2 de Virton/Crown Z) clinched fourth spot in a time of 38.93 seconds behind The Netherlands’ Renee de Weert and the KWPN mare Labantrix (Eldorado van de Zeshoek), owned and bred by Stal van den Broek, who took the bronze.

Silver medallist Philip Rüping from Germany posted a really fast time in 35.90 seconds with the OS mare Casanina PS (Casalico/Chacco Blue), owned and bred by Gestüt Lewitz. But Harry Allen bettered that by 0.6 seconds to grab the gold with the Italian Sport Horse mare owned by Ballywalter Stables and bred by Coop Soc. Agr. La Caccia-Onius. 

It was a special victory for the 22-year-old Irishman because his older brother, Bertram Allen, also won two consecutive gold medals in Lanaken with Barnike - in 2013 when the horse was a 6-Year-Old and in 2014 as a 7-Year-Old. 

Talking about his winning mare yesterday evening Harry Allen said, “I’m not too sure of the plan for her now. She’s owned by American rider Adrienne Sternlicht and was sold in our Aloga Auction last year and Adrienne let me keep the ride on her. I think she’s an unbelievable horse, maybe the best seven-year-old I’ve ever ridden!”

Results here

The Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 looks set to be a highly competitive affair, with a total of 86 athletes from 19 nations in action during the hugely popular four-day fixture that brings the team Jumping season to the perfect close every year in Barcelona, Spain.

Running from 27 September to 1 October, there will be 15 countries from five continents chasing down the prestigious team trophy this time around as athletes and horses from Asia, Europe, Oceania, South America and North America fly their national flags. 

It is an event that everyone looks forward to each season, celebrating all that is best about equestrian team sport.

Defending

Peter Weinberg’s Belgian side arrive as defending champions after clinching not only the 2022 title but also the single qualifying spot on offer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It was an impressive victory, their third since the Final was established at the Real Club de Polo in 2013, and they clinched it with the only zero scoreline on the final day.

Weinberg returns with three members of last year’s winning side, Koen Vereecke, Gregory Wathelet and Gilles Thomas who will be joined by Niels Bruynseels and Wilm Vermeir.

The full list of nations fielding teams is: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, USA and Uzbekistan.

Rivalry

With the XXXIII Olympiad less than a year away time is running out for those countries not yet qualified, so there will be intense rivalry between Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, USA and Uzbekistan because none of them have yet bagged that elusive ticket to the French capital next summer as yet. 

For the North and South American countries there will be one more opportunity at the Pan-American Games 2023 in Chile in November where the final three Olympic spots will be up for grabs. But for Italy, who failed to qualify for this year’s Longines Final through the Europe Division 1 series but who made the cut because the Asia/Australasia region was unable to fill its quota, and for Uzbekistan this is their very last chance. 

The Italians are sending out three members of the team that finished tenth at the FEI Jumping European Championship on home ground in Milan three weeks ago - Alberto Zorzi, Emanuele Camilli and Giampiero Garofalo - along with the super-experienced Lorenzo de Luca and Piergiorgio Bucci so they obviously mean business.

The Uzbeki side is considerably less well known, but Abdurakhmon Abdullaev, Bekzod Kurbanov, Azam Tolibbaev and Nurjan Tuyakbaev will be just as focused.

No chances

The Americans are clearly taking no chances on leaving Olympic qualification to the last minute at the Pan-Ams. Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland will lead a super-sharp crew headed up by multiple champions Laura Kraut and McLain Ward who will be backed up by Devin Ryan, Jessica Springsteen and Karl Cook. 

Team Switzerland managed to tick the Olympic qualification box when finishing sixth at the recent European Championship, and the dynamic duo of Steve Guerdat and Martin Fuchs will be teaming up again together with Elian Baumann, Alain Jufer and Janika Sprunger at this week’s Longines Final.

Two of the individual European medallists will be in action this week - gold medallist Guerdat who is currently world number three, and bronze medallist Julien Epaillard from France who is world number two. In fact seven of the top 10 athletes in the current world rankings list will compete in Barcelona including world number one Henrik von Eckermann from Sweden who will line out as an individual.

Fire-power

The French have a huge amount of fire-power in their side led by Epaillard which also includes world number nine Simon Delestre, Dublin Grand Prix winner Francois Xavier Boudant, Olivier Perreau and Olivier Robert. And the Germans look super-strong too, with Hans-Dieter Dreher, Christian Kukuk, Jörne Sprehe, Richard Vogel and Jana Wargers in Otto Becker’s line-up. 

Ireland’s Michael Blake sends out one of the side that took team silver in Milan, Trevor Breen, who will be joined by Daniel Coyle, Jack Ryan, the veteran Denis Lynch and 19-year-old Max Wachman who was on the winning team and finished individually 11th at the FEI Jumping European Young Riders Championship this summer.

The Dutch also look strong, with Harrie Smolders, Maikel van der Vleuten and Jur Vrieling amongst Jos Lansink’s selection, while Team Mexico can always be relied upon to give it their all. Last year they won Saturday night’s Challenge Cup in fine style, pinning the newly-crowned world champions from Sweden into runner-up spot.

Intriguing

However perhaps one of the most intriguing teams to watch next week may be Brazil, with former Portuguese star Luciana Diniz joining Stephan de Freitas Barcha, Marlon Modolo Zanotelli, Rodrigo Pessoa and Pedro Veniss in the side. Diniz took a break from the sport last October and only stepped back in at international level in July this year. She competed for Brazil at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 but carried the Portuguese flag at the Games in London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and is now targeting Paris 2024 on behalf of Brazil once again.

Individually all of the other Brazilian riders have been in exceptional form of late and with this talented lady also on call-up they will surely be eyeing up not just the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 title but that single Olympic qualifying spot too.

The story of the 2023 edition will begin to unfold on Wednesday, 27 September, with the first Horse Inspection, Training session and Draw for the order-of-go. The competition will begin on Thursday 28 when all 15 nations will compete. The top eight will go through to Sunday’s €1,250,000 final round to decide the title while the remaining countries will go for glory in Saturday night’s €300,000 Challenge Cup.

The excitement is only a few days away, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

More information here 

Event website here 

Masterlist here

Sentower Park at Opglabbeek (BEL) was the site for the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Youth Final on Sunday, where young athletes competed in four classes following a season of 10 legs across Europe beginning in March. Sweden, under the direction of Chef d’Equipe Hendrik Lanner, brought home the trophy in the Young Riders category, ending the day on zero penalty points. Denmark and Belgium joined them at the prize giving, earning the second and third positions. 

Following the Juniors competition, capped with a thrilling jump off, Team Netherlands were the winners, with Team Ireland taking the second place and the USA — the North American champions — the third. The Dutch had another chance to hear their national anthem in the Ashford Arena when their athletes also won the Children’s class ahead of second-place Belgium and Italy in third. Ireland had their moment in the Ponies class, a triumph for them after leading the standings at the end of the season. It was the Dutch team and Great Britain at the awards ceremony with them to close out the series for the year. 

The FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Youth series has been growing steadily, with more than 20 countries participating in the Children’s and Juniors classes this year. The Opglabbeek event was a solid test for 2024, when they will host the FEI European Championships for Ponies in Jumping and Dressage. 

A qualifier on Thursday whittled down the field in each class to just six teams, and the scoring started from zero, except for Ponies, where all seven federations competed and carried forward their faults from earlier in the week. 

Team Ireland rode sixth out of the seven entries and finished on a clean sheet. They brought forward 4 faults from Day 1 to Belgium’s zero, but with Belgium’s final competitor Robin Vermeir picking up 12 points aboard Kristal Sparkle Van Begeveld, no jump off ensued, and the Netherlands and Great Britain advanced to the podium. 

Irish Chef d’Equipe Gary Marshall was proud of his team, made up of Kian Dore (Sparkling Lackaghmore Joey), Emily Moloney (Lady Crown), Paddy Reape (Fernando), and James Derwin (Rincoola Babog). 

“There’s no secret,” said Marshall of how they handled the course designed by Rafael Suarez (GBR). “Success breeds success.” He added: “We have a team system at home,” referring to a committed investment to training in Ponies competition. 

In the Children’s class, the Dutch team knew after their fourth combo, Faye Louise Vos and Monica LH, went clear that they’d won on no penalty points. Liv Linssen (Cini W Z) and Nina Houtzager (Chaccotana) already had clear rides, with Stella Heijligers (Go GO) sitting on 4 points. 

Dutch Chef d’Equipe Edwin Hoogenraat remarked on how strong the training program has been throughout the year in the Netherlands. When asked which other team might also take gold, the athletes unanimously agreed it would be the Juniors. 

That prediction turned out to be true, but not without a battle first. With both Ireland and the Netherlands having 8 points each, a jump off would have to determine the winner. All four team members rode: Thijmen Vos (Ive Got The Key), Emma Bocken (Kadessa Z), Wesley de Boer (Kaphira), and Nick Nanning (Bandia). With only 4 penalties to Ireland’s 8, the top prize went to the Dutch, whose team leader credited their consistent training for their victory.

The course created for the Young Riders by Suarez had to be completed in 72 seconds, and though many duos found themselves saddled with time faults, a handful proved the track could be ridden clear within the time. The pressure was on Mathilda Bohlin with Domino van de Zuuthoeve, who secured the win for Sweden. 

“I like being the last rider — I like the pressure,” said Bohlin. “It was fun to deliver the round so we could have this win together.” 

“They’re all really good riders and good friends,” said Lanner of his athletes. “They make a good team together,” he commented of Bohlin, Beata Hermelin (Obsession Night), Emma Stadling (Calleth You Cometh I), Philip Svitzer (Alida Nike), and Kajsa Björe (Lincourt Luidam).

In the Ponies class on Sunday’s finale, Belgium and Germany, who were in the top three prior to Opglabbeek, struggled to keep the penalty points down, ending their season in fourth and sixth, respectively, with Team Sweden in fifth. 

In the Children’s competition, France finished just one penalty behind third-place Italy, with Ireland and Switzerland taking fifth and sixth. Behind fourth-place Germany in the Juniors, Sweden and Denmark rounded out the top six. The USA worked hard to top the home nation in the Young Riders class, but ended the afternoon 1 point above Belgium to settle for fourth place. France were a point behind the Americans in fifth, with Great Britain finishing sixth. 

Whilst the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Youth series has wrapped up for another year, there’s more action to come with the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final for Seniors at Barcelona (ESP) at the end of this month. It will be a particularly electrifying competition, as not only are Team Belgium defending their title from last year, but a berth to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games is on offer for those who have not yet qualified.

FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Youth Final results

Montelibretti (ITA) hosted the FEI Eventing European Championships for Young Riders and Juniors 2023, where Germany dominated the competition and earned two gold medals.

Check the podium winners from all categories here:

FEI Eventing European Championship for Young Riders and Juniors 2023 podium winners:

Young Riders Team

1° Italy

2° Ireland

3° Germany

Juniors Team

1° Germany

2° Great Britain

3° France

Young Riders Individual

1° Charlotte Bordas (FRA) & Firewall des Aucels Z

2° Kaya Thomsen (GER) & Cool Charly Blue

3° Allanah Kelly (IRL) & Cooley Bounce

Juniors Individual

1° Smilla Maline Philipp (GER) & Sir Boggles

2° Leopoldo Petrini (ITA) & Emerald Jony

3° Jeanne Brunel (FRA) & Dexter Z

Full results available here

Photo Caption: Germany celebrates the gold medal in the Juniors Team competition during the lap of honor at the FEI Eventing European Championships for Young Riders & Juniors 2023 in Montelibretti (ITA) 

Photo Copyright: FEI / Massimo Argenziano.

Images & Content: Free images for editorial purposes are available from the FEI Flickr account in the photostream and in the dedicated album.

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About Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) www.fei.org   

The FEI is the world governing body for horse sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and was founded in 1921. Equestrian sport has been part of the Olympic movement since the 1912 Games in Stockholm.

The FEI is the sole controlling authority for all international events in the Olympic sports of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing, as well as Driving, Endurance and Vaulting.

The FEI became one of the first international sports governing bodies to govern and regulate global para sport alongside its seven able-bodied disciplines when Para Dressage joined its ranks in 2006. The FEI now governs all international competitions for Para Dressage and Para Driving.

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