The host team will be hoping to establish an even more secure grip at
the top of the leaderboard when the second leg of the Samsung Super
League with FEI series takes place in Aachen, Germany on Friday.
Convincing winners at the opening leg in La Baule, France two weeks
ago, the Germans already head the table with a full three-point
advantage over the USA in second spot and Chef d'Equipe, Kurt
Gravemeier, will select his side for Friday's challenge from the almost
overwhelming strength of Christian Ahlmann, Ludger Beerbaum, Marcus
Ehning, Marco Kutscher and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum.
The great depth of Germany's pool of riders and horses was highlighted
by Ludger Beerbaum after the recent victory at the French fixture, but
they are unlikely to feel over-confident following last year's
experience on their home turf when they finished second-last after
collecting a total of 30 faults. The heavy season that preceded the
Aachen fixture may well have explained the poor performance that day
when it was the Americans who excelled, and US team manager George
Morris brings back three of the four team members who scooped the
honours on that fascinating afternoon including Jeffery Welles, Beezie
Madden and McLain Ward.
Lauren Hough and Margie Goldstein-Engle make up the US representation
and, after the strong performance in France, the US should be feeling
optimistic about keeping the pressure on the league leaders.
The French are lying third at this early stage of the series and
Jean-Maurice Bonneau has Herve Godignon, Laurent Goffinet, Eric
Levallois, Jean-Marc Nicolas and Michel Robert to choose from. The
double-clear performance from Robert and Galet d'Auzay at La Baule
should have been a shot in the arm for French morale, but France does
not seem to be tapping into the same level of conviction that earned
them the Super League title in both the opening 2003 season and again
in 2004. Perhaps things will come together a little more for them this
time around.
Switzerland and France share fourth spot and the Swiss look very
competitive with Markus Fuchs, Christina Liebherr, Beat Mandli, Niklaus
Schurtenberger and Pius Schwizer on call. Mandli is listed with the
talented Ideo du Thot, the horse that took him to third place at the
FEI World Cup Final in Kuala Lumpur last month, and if Schurtenberger
and Schwizer can show the same kind of solidity this Friday as they did
two weeks ago then the Swiss could be holding a strong hand.
Leopold Van Asten, Gerco Schroder, Jurgen Stenfert, Emile Tacken and
Albert Zoer are included in the Dutch selection and they will be hoping
to keep pace with the Swiss so that they too can hold their ground.
Van Asten picked up 10 faults with VDL Groep Fleche Rouge in the first
round in La Baule but then completely redeemed himself when the
partnership was foot-perfect next time out while Stenfert did likewise
when coming back from a disastrous 23-fault first-round effort with
BMC's Octavia to collect just a single time penalty. Manager, Rolf
Grass, will probably be hoping however that his men will not need to
stage such a dramatic recovery again this week.
The British picked up just two points in La Baule to slot into sixth
place on the leaderboard. Not even the double-clear from Tim Gredley
and Omelli could make enough of a difference when both John Whitaker
(Exploit du Roulard) and Mark Armstrong (Thesaura) felled a lot of
timber but they look stronger this time out with Gredley in the
starting blocks once more alongside Robert Smith, Michael Whitaker and
Duncan Inglis while John Whitaker brings Hugo de Heup and Peppermill by
way of a change.
The Irish are carrying just a single point after new Chef d'Equipe,
Robert Splaine, suffered something of a baptism of fire in France.
Conor Swail's ride, Poncho, did not cope well with the French venue
leaving the other three riders to make the running and although none
were heavily penalised, only Edward Doyle's Effective lived up to his
name when producing a clear round. Doyle is back in the side again
this week along with Shane Breen, Captain Shane Carey, Jessica Kuerten
and Cian O'Connor - the latter two competing side-by-side for the first
time since Kuerten's refusal to ride alongside O'Connor in the
aftermath of the now infamous 2004 Olympic medal drama.
The ones under real pressure on Friday afternoon however are the Swedes
who clocked up an horrific total of 58 faults in La Baule to finish
last and claim only the 0.5 points available for the team at the bottom
of the order. They worked very hard to re-take their place in the
Samsung Super League with FEI series, but things have not started well
for them and Chef d'Equipe, Henk Nooren, will be expecting a much
better result this time around. Malin Baryard-Johnsson, the darling of
Swedish show jumping, will have to put behind her the memory of the
first-round elimination she suffered with her faithful campaigner
Butterfly Flip in La Baule, but the presence of Rolf-Goran Bengtsson
should strengthen Swedish resolve while Peter Eriksson, Maria Gretzer
and Royne Zetterman are unlikely to be lacking in determination either.
The 2006 Samsung Super League with FEI battle has really only just
begun....
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2006 : LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 1 AT LA
BAULE:
1. GERMANY - 10
2. USA - 7
3. FRANCE - 5
4. SWITZERLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS - 3.5
6. GREAT BRITAIN - 2
7. IRELAND - 1
8. SWEDEN - 0.5
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI : 2006 CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
ROUND 1 - La Baule (Fra) 4-7 May; ROUND 2 - Aachen (Ger) 17-21 May;
ROUND 3, Rome (Ita) 25-28 May; ROUND 4 - Lucerne (Sui) 1-4 June; ROUND
5 - Rotterdam (Ned) 22-25 June; ROUND 6 - Hickstead (GBR) 26-30 July;
ROUND 7 - Dublin (Irl) 9-13 August; ROUND 8 and FINAL - Barcelona (Esp)
14-17 September.
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, www.horsesport.org - section jumping/rules.
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.
For more information:
Contact FEI Communications, Malina Gueorguiev,
m.gueorguiev@horsesport.org or consult FEI website www.horsesport.org.
Campus
