The Swiss riders put on a fine display of jumping to take the sixth leg victory in the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping series.
Stylish Swiss
The winning team made up of Janika Sprunger Werner Muff Paul Estermann and Romain Duguet finished on a total of zero faults. With three clears in the bag their final rider Duguet did not have to start.
All four riders were delighted with the team’s success and it seemed they had the upper hand going into the sixth leg tie.
“Of course we were hoping for this but expecting a victory is one thing and making it happen is something else! There were so many good teams but we felt pretty confident today ” said Swiss rider Janika.
With just four faults the Swedish team were denied a home win and had to settle for second .
The Netherlands Great Britain and Brazil all shared 3rd place after finishing their jumping rounds on eight faults.
Change of course
Course designer Guilherme Jorge opted to make alterations to the course following a pretty easy first round of jumping.
“The horses jumped beautifully. There were so many clears in the first round that we had to make some adjustments for the second round and we could tell that the second round was a lot more challenging ” he said.
Guilherme will also be responsible for designing the Olympic course in Rio in less than three weeks’ time.
Brazil bound
The sixth leg winners will hope they have impressed the Swiss Federation enough to book their place on the Olympic team in Rio.
Swiss Chef d’Equipe Andy Kistler is feeling positive after his teams win.
“We now have enough points to secure our place in Division 1 for next year and that was one of our main objectives. We can now focus on finalising our preparations for the Olympic Games ” he said.
For the full standings after the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping 2016 sixth leg in Falsterbo (SWE) click here.
Watch the FEI Nations Cup series on H&C at the following times.
Results
1. Switzerland 0 faults: Bonne Chance (Janika Sprunger) 0/0 Pollendr (Werner Muff) 0/0 Castlefield Eclipse (Paul Estermann) 0/0 Quorida de Treho (Romain Duguet) DNS/Ret.
2. Sweden 4 faults: H&M Cue Channa (Malin Baryard-Johnsson) 0/4 Yajamila (Henrik von Eckermann) 0/4 Unita ASK (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) 0/0 H&M All In (Peder Fredricsson) 0/0.
3. Netherlands 8 faults: SFN Zenith NOP (Jeroen Dubbeldam) 0/4 VDL Glasgow V Merelsnest (Jur Vrieling) 9/4 Aquila SFN (Wout-Jan van der Schans) 4/0 Glock’s London NOP (Gerco Schroder) 0/0.
3. Great Britain 8 faults: Fleur de L’Aube (Tim Stockdale) 4/0 Quelbora Merze (Tim Wilks) 0/0 HHS Figaro (Emma O’Dwyer) 4/0 Con Man JX (Joe Clayton) 4/17.
3. Brazil 8 faults: Citizenguard Cadjanine Z (Rodrigo Pessoa) 0/8 Landpeter de Feroleto (Stephan de Freitas Barcha) 0/0 AD Cornetto K (Doda de Miranda) 0/0 Cash de Mar Z (Marlon Modolo Zanotelli) 4/Ret.
6. Germany 13 faults: Conthendrix (Andre Thieme) 0/0 BSC Cha Cha Cha (Holger Wulschner) 4/8 Brooklyn 17 (Mario Stephens) 4/12 Goja 27 (Janne Friederike Mayer) 0/1.
6. Ireland 13 faults: Chaqui Z (Shane Sweetnam) 9/0 Go Easy de Muze (Darragh Kenny) 9/0 Aristio (Anthony Condon) 0/0 Golden Hawk (Shane Breen) 4/0.
8. Czech Republic 30 faults: Caleri ll (Suzana Zelinkova) 0/8 Charly Brown (Emma Augier de Moussac) 27/9 Cento Lano (Ondrej Zvara) 5/0 Dimaro vld Louise Heide (Ales Opatrny) 8/12.