FEI European Jumping Championships for Juniors and Young Riders

TEAM

Britain and Switzerland walk away with the much deserved Junior and Young Rider gold medals at the FEI European Jumping Championships for Juniors and Young Riders held in Prague (CZE).

The Juniors
Britain's Accenture Junior team took the Gold medal at the 2008 FEI European Jumping Championships for Juniors in Prague, a feat which they had not accomplished since 2004 in Portugal.

From a starting field of eighteen nations (with 3 or four riders) entered in the Junior team competition a battle for medals ensued. Following the opening competition, Course Designer Eduard Petrovič lifted the bar and presented a much more difficult course, with bars reaching 140cm. The British got off to a good start, with just four penalty points after the first round, followed by Denmark with five and the Netherlands sitting on eight. The majority, at this stage, had 12 penalty points, namely Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and Ireland.

The second round confirmed Britain’s early lead, while Denmark also stayed put to clench silver. Third place was hotly disputed and went to Germany after a thrilling jump off with Switzerland.

Results
1.        Great Britain
2.        Denmark
3.        Germany

The Young Riders
Fifteen teams took part in the competition, and after a nail biting two rounds, Switzerland took gold, The Netherlands the silver while Britain held their nerve and produced three faultless rounds in the jump off with France to secure the bronze medal. The Swiss are not new to Young Rider success having won the team gold twice since the inception of the series, in 1998 and in 2006.

It was a nail biting experience for the Swiss and the Dutch as both teams were even up until the very last riders. The day went in favour of the Swiss, as Julia Delaporte riding Sir Singular (Switzerland) came out with a clear round while last year’s individual gold medallist Wesley Heydens with Pavarottie H, riding last for the Dutch team had an unfortunate error on the water jump. Although it was still a remarkable success for the Dutch team as they edged one step closer to the top spot on the podium, having achieved team bronze last year with three out of the four riders present again on this occasion.  

Results
1.        Switzerland
2.        The Netherlands
3.        Great Britain

INDIVIDUAL

The Juniors
Spain’s Mauel Anon riding L’Oreal D’Utah proved unbeatable on the day producing nothing but clear rounds, and even when it came to the crunch during the jump off with Stefanie Lauber thus relegating her into second place. Third place, and also as a result of a jump off went to Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs, son of Marcus Fuchs, riding Karin II CH. Unlucky in the final stages of the jump off, Matthew Sampson from Great Britain had to settle for fourth – although this was more than a worthy placing given the 100 starters vying a spot on the podium.

Results
1.        Manuel Anon (ESP) - L’Oreal D’Utah
2.        Stefanie Lauber (SUI) – Chrescada
3.        Martin Fuchs (SUI) – Karin II CH

The Young Riders
The Swiss didn’t stop at team gold for the Young Riders as Philipp Züger riding Liatos II clenched his second gold of the Championships during the individual final with a score of 5.62. He was closely followed by Thomas Weinberg and Escobar 20 on a score of 5.62 from Germany. In third place came fellow German rider Christoph Brüse with 11.65, while Great Britain’s William Whitaker only just missed out on a medal, coming in fourth place with a score of 11.83.

Results
1.        Philipp Züger (SUI) – Liatos II
2.        Thomas Weinberg (GER) – Escobar 20
3.        Christoph Brüse (GER) - Audrey D