Lucerne marks the mid-way point of the 2006 Samsung Super League with FEI series and with only just over 1.5 points separating the USA from Germany at the top of the leaderboard the Swiss fixture promises to be particularly exciting.
The question is - can the double-winners from Germany hold on to their advantage? Or will the Americans, who have been growing in confidence with each performance, surpass them this Friday? And at the other end of the leaderboard can the Irish capitalise on the small advantage gained when finishing fourth last weekend and extend their slender lead over the Dutch who are lying seventh ahead of the Swedes at the bottom of the table? It has been tough going for many of the nations struggling to field the strongest possible teams over this pressurised first half of the season - four competitions in five weeks is a demanding schedule by any standard.
Of course the French come to Lucerne in celebratory mood after their magnificent victory in Rome last week and Chef d'Equipe, Jean-Maurice Bonneau, will be hoping for another strong performance from his side that, this time, includes Florian Angot, Gilles Bertran de Balanda, Patrick Deleveau, Christian Hermon and Philippe Leoni. Now promoted to third place in the league standings the French are only just over four points behind the German leaders and anything is still possible for them...
The British are four points further in arrears and manager Derek Ricketts will be hoping to at least maintain his side's position when choosing his team from the selection that includes Mark Armstrong, Ben Maher, Nick Skelton and John and Michael Whitaker. The Swiss look strong but know that they need to add to their scoreline as they are carrying just over nine points which leaves them only a little more than three points in front of the Irish - and there is nothing safe about them. Markus Fuchs, Christina Liebherr, Beat Mandli, Niklaus Schurtenberger and Pius Schwizer will be expected to come up with a good result on their home turf.
The Irish showed far greater resolve in Rome but must cement their position if they are to stay out of trouble so team manager Robert Splaine will carefully choose from the five riders available to him. Cameron Hanley produced one of only two double-clear rounds last week and he rejoins the squad once more along with Marion Hughes, Shane Breen, Edward Doyle and Jessica Kuerten.
Dutch Chef d'Equipe Rob Ehrens needs something special. His side is already complete and includes Jeroen Dubbeldam, Gerco Schroder, Leon Thijssen and Eric van der Vleuten but they must try to add to the the 5.6 faults they are already carrying in order to push away from the Swedes who are, once more, languishing at the bottom of the league table. Swedish team manager Henk Nooren however knows very well that with so little between the three teams bunched together in sixth, seventh and eighth places that a decent performance from Peder Fredericson, Svante Johansson, Helena Lundback, Johan Lundh and Lotta Schultz could alter the situation radically. As all Samsung Super League teams understand, luck plays a big part in every day's sport and the Swedes deserve a little more of it.
Meanwhile it falls to Christian Ahlmann, Marcus Ehning, Marco Kutscher, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Alexander Schill to defend Germany's position at the top of the table. That would be a very nice place to be located when the second half of the series begins in Rotterdam later in June, although the Americans are likely to have other plans. If Molly Ashe, Margie Engle, Candice King, Laura Kraut and Christine McCrea get it right this Friday the reigning Samsung Super League with FEI champions could be in control by then and the riders have an extra incentive to show just how good they can be during this fixture because their team manager, George Morris, will be announcing his choice for the forthcoming World Equestrian Games in Aachen next week.
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2006 : LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 3 IN ROME - (Revised calculation of points):
1. Germany - 21.625
2. USA - 20
3. France - 17
4. Great Britain - 13
5. Switzerland - 9.125
6. Ireland - 6
7. The Netherlands- 5.625
8. Sweden - 5.125
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!
The NEXT LEG of the series takes place in Lucerne, Switzerland on Friday 2 June. Show President is Mr Peter Stoessel, Show Director is Urs Schiendorfer and Press Officer is Peter Wyrsch - email wy@sda-ats.ch. WEBSITE www.csio.ch.
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.
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