The Germans made it two-in-a-row when, following on their opening round
success at La Baule two weeks ago, they were triumphant once again on
their home ground in Aachen today. And World No. 1 Marcus Ehning found
himself surplus to requirements when not having to start with Gitania
in either round. The USA however were hot on German heels once more
when finishing second, and this summer's Samsung Super League with FEI
series looks set to turn into a real tussle between these two sides.
The British were considerably more impressive than last time out when
slotting into third ahead of Switzerland in fourth while the Swedes,
who were dogged with misfortune in La Baule, also produced a
much-improved performance to finish fifth. Just a single fault kept
the French further down the line in sixth while the Irish were next in
line ahead of the The Netherlands at the bottom of the order.
Testament to the quality of this competition however, the Dutch were
far from disastrous as none of their team members collected more than
eight faults in any round of jumping but their final tally of 29 faults
was only good enough for eighth place. The Irish meanwhile have now
dropped to the bottom of the league table despite spirited second-round
clears from their first two competitors.
Following clears from pathfinder Ludger Beerbaum (L'Espoir), Christian
Ahlmann (Coster) and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Shutterfly) the home
team was already in the lead on a zero score after three riders had
gone, so Ehning found himself out of work as the first round concluded.
The USA counted just four faults from McLain Ward and Sapphire after
Margie Goldstein-Engle (Quervo Gold) and Beezie Madden (Authentic) left
all the poles intact, but Lauren Hough and Casadora got their wires
crossed as they passed the pocket and the Dutch-bred horse stopped,
picking up 14 faults.
The British were lying third with just seven faults going into round
two after both Robert Smith (Marius Claudius) and Tim Gredley (Omelli)
collected a single time penalty, and Michael Whitaker's double-error
with Insul Tech Portofino was the drop score when his brother John
returned with just five faults on the board for his new ride
Peppermill.
The French and Swedes were only a single point further adrift in fourth
- Sweden showing far greater resolve on this occasion. The presence
of Rolf-Goran Bengtsson seemed to be a steadying influence, and Malin
Baryard-Johnsson and Butterfly Flip showed no sign of repeating the
elimination incurred in La Baule when, like Bengtsson and Ninja La
Silla, they picked up just four faults in their opening effort. Royne
Zetterman secured the eight-fault score-line with a clear from Isaac.
France counted single errors from both Eric Levallois (Diamant de
Semilly Ecolit) and Herve Godignon (Obelix) when Michel Robert and
Galet D'Auzay kept a clean sheet.
Meanwhile the Swiss carried 10 faults to fill sixth place at the
halfway stage. Beat Mandli's Ideo du Thot, third at the recent FEI
World Cup Final, showed he can be just as impressive outdoors when
caught only by the clock for a single time fault while Christina
Liebherr's one error with LB No Mercy and Nicklaus Schurtenberger's
five faults with Cantus completed the Swiss tally.
Despite a clear from Albert Zoer and Okidoki the Dutch were
hard-punished for double-errors from Leopold Van Asten (VDL Groep
Fleche Rouge) and Gerco Schroder (Eurocommerce Berlin), carrying 13
faults after Jurgen Stenfert and BMC Octavia collected five more, while
the Irish were lying last with 17 on the board, hampered by a
surprising eight-fault result from World No. 2 Jessica Kuerten and
Castle Forbes Maike and nine faults from the considerably less
experienced Effective ridden by Edward Doyle.
Not even clears from both Shane Breen and World Cruise and Capt Shane
Carey with the brave and brilliant little Killossery could save the
Irish when Kuerten produced the double-fault discount score in round
two and Doyle improved with only a single mistake. Their 21 fault
total kept them ahead of the Dutch who added another 16 to drop to
last, but bottom place on the Samsung Super League with FEI leaderboard
was beckoning the boys in green after their consecutive second-last
finishing places in the first two legs of the series.
The Swedes overtook the French when Baryard-Johnsson and Bengtsson held
firm on four faults and Zetterman completed a double clear, Robert's
unlikely 14-fault second-round result seriously spoiling French
chances. Switzerland rocketed up to fourth when Liebherr was clear and
Mandli again collected just a single time penalty, while the British
cemented that third spot thanks to clears from both Whitaker and their
very exciting new find, 20 year old Gredley.
As the competition drew to a close it was still all to play for between
the Americans and Germans and a clear round from last US rider Madden
would have forced Ehning into the ring but it was not to happen. Hough
had made a superb recovery to stay fault-free at her second attempt as
did Ward, and the US could discard Goldstein-Engle's four-faulter if
Authentic left all the fences up, but Madden retired as soon as she
heard a pole falling and it was all over to leave the host team very
happy indeed with the end result.
"It was not the hardest course I've ever jumped in Aachen but it was a
good track with problems everywhere and it made for an exciting
competition because it came down to the last few riders in the end"
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum said afterwards. "Shutterfly jumped two
beautiful rounds, so I am very, very happy but you have to admire those
Americans - they are very strong this season. They have done a great
job getting riders as good as these together - they are going to
feature strongly this summer I think" she added.
It was in Barcelona three years ago that the Germans last found
themselves in the position that their final rider did not have to
participate, but Marcus Ehning could not decide whether it was a good
or bad thing that he never got to go in the ring - "I'm really not sure
about that" he said with a grin. Christian Ahlmann said that Coster is
"just getting better and better" while Ludger Beerbaum talked about his
hopes of returning to the Aachen arena to fly his country's flag at
this summer's World Equestrian Games. When asked whether she was
focusing now on Sunday's Grand Prix, Michaels-Beerbaum replied that
"what matters more is being proud to win with my team today" while
German Chef d'Equipe Kurt Gravemeier returned to the theme of the
American threat. There is nothing his country wants more than to win
the WEG team title on their home ground this summer but the USA also
have that honour in their sights. "The fact that the Americans are in
such top form so early in the season is almost frightening" Gravemeier
commented. So nothing is being taken for granted going into the third
leg of the series at the Piazza di Sienna in Rome next Friday......
RESULT:
1, Germany - 4 faults: L'Espoir (Ludger Beerbaum) 0/4, Coster
(Christian Ahlmann) 0/0, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) 0/0,
Gitania (Marcus Ehning) DNS, DNS.
2. USA - 8 faults: Quervo Gold (Margie Goldstein-Engle) 0/4, Casadora
(Lauren Hough) 14/0, Sapphire (McLain Ward) 4/0, Authentic (Beezie
Madden) 0/Ret.
3. Great Britain - 11 faults: Marius Claudius (Robert Smith) 1/4,
Peppermill 5/5, Omelli (Tim Gredley) 1/0, Insul Tech Portofino 8/0. 4. Switzerland - 15 faults: LB No Mercy (Christina Liebherr) 4/0,
Cantus (Niklaus Schurtenberger) 5/4, La Toya (Markus fuchs) 9/4, Ideo
du Thot (Bea Mandli) 1/1.
5. Sweden - 16 faults: VDL Cardento (Peter Eriksson) 8/12, Isaac
(Royne Zetterman) 0/0, Butterfly Flip (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) 4/4,
Ninja la Silla (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) 4/4.
6. France - 17 faults: Diamant de Semilly Ecolit (Eric Levallois) 4/4,
Flipper d'Elle (Laurent Goffinet) 8/4, Obelix (Herve Godignon) 4/1,
Galet D'Auzay (Michel Robert) 0/14.
7, Ireland - 21 faults: World Cruise (Shane Breen) 4/0, Killossery
(Capt Shane Carey) 5/0, Castle Forbes Maike (Jessica Kuerten) 8/8,
Effective (Edward Doyle) 9/4.
8. The Netherlands - 29 faults: VDL Groep Fleche Rouge (Leopold Van
Asten) 8/4, BMC Octavia (Jurgen Stenfert) 5/8, Okidoki (Albert Zoer)
0/4, Eurocommerce Berlin (Gerco Schroder) 8/8.
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2006 : LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 2 AT AACHEN:
1. GERMANY - 20
2. USA - 14
3. SWITZERLAND - 7.5
4. GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE - 7
6. THE NETHERLANDS - 4
7. SWEDEN -3.5
8. IRELAND - 2
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!
For further information about the Samsung Super League with FEI at
Aachen check out WEBSITE www.chioaachen.de. Show President is Klaus
Peter Pavel, Show Director is Frank Kemperman and Press Officer is
Niels Knippertz - email niels.knippertz@aachen2006.de or Tel: +49
24191710.
The next leg of the series takes place at the Piazza di Siena in Rome,
Italy on Friday 26 May. For all information about this fixture check
out WEBSITE www.fise.it or contact Press Officer Caterina Vagnozzi at
email c.vagnozzi@iol.it or Tel: +39 0636858321 .
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 SEE IT ON TV - Broadcast Information
LIVE SIGNAL
HIGHLIGHTS
CNBC Asia (Pan Asia) - Sat 3 June 15.00
CNBC Europe (Pan Europe) - Check local service
ESPN Brazil - Check local service
ESPN Star (Pan Asia) - Weds 31 May 18.00, Friday 2 June 06.00,
Monday 5 June 02.00, Weds 7 June 19.00, Thurs 8 June 09.00, 15.00, Fri 9 June
18.00, Sat 10 June 02.00, 06.00, 10.00, Mon 12 June 02.00, Tues 13
June 06.30, 07.00
EUROSPORT - Weds 24 May 22.15, Thurs 25 May 08.30
FINNISH SPORTS TV (Finland) - Mon 29 May 18.00, Mon 10 July 18.00, Mon
11 Sept 18.00
FOX SPORTS (Middle East) - Tues 30 May 17.00
HORSE TV (USA) - Check local service
M-NET (Pan Africa) - Weds 7 June 22.30, thurs 8 june 05.00, Sat 10
June 06.00, Mon 12 June 12.00, Tues 13 june 14.30
SPORT TV (Portugal) - Check local service
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
