 |
Federation
Equestre Internationale News
Samsung Super League
Vive La France!!!
|
It
was French flair all the way as the host nation claimed an emphatic
victory at the thrilling first leg of the Samsung Super League
in La Baule today.
Taking
the lead with just four faults after round 1, the French added
nothing more to their score and their final rider, Gilles Bertran
de Balanda did not have to jump a second time as they stormed
to victory on their home soil.
It
was a tense and nervous opening competition, with riders very
much aware that a good performance was vital if their country
is to stay within the top-eight show jumping nations in the world.
The
Samsung Super League has captured the imagination and commitment
of riders, Chefs d’Equipe and National Federations alike
and it is now a matter of pride as each nation strives to maintain
their Super League status but, at the end of the series in September,
one team will drop out as the winner from the normal Samsung Nations
Cup series is promoted.
Relegation
was far from French minds yesterday however as, in front of their
home crowd, Michel Hecart (Quilano de Kalvarie) and Gilles de
Balanda (Crocus Graverie) jumped clear over the 12-fence first-round
track.
Course-designer,
Serge Houtmann, had created a course which was technically clever
but not over-big, providing the perfect first test of the series
and when both Eric Levallois (Diamant de Semilly) and Reynald
Angot (Tlaloc M) lowered just one fence each France was already
in the driving seat at the halfway stage with Levallois providing
the discount score.
The
Irish were only one fence behind, following four-fault performances
from Friday’s Grand Prix winner Billy Twomey (Luidam) and
from Peter Charles (Corrada) who made a remarkable recovery from
a bad mistake in the middle of the treble at fence 9 while Robert
Splaine (Coolcorran Cool Diamond) jumped clear.
Germany
was lying third with 12 faults going into round 2 after a single
error each from Markus Ehning (For Pleasure), Otto Becker (Grandilot)
and Ludger Beerbaum (Gladdys S) while Great Britain was only one
fault further adrift on a total of 13 when Michael Whitaker picked
up a single time fault in an otherwise excellent round with Handel
to add to the 4 collected by Scott Smith (Cabri d’Elle) and
the 8 picked up by Mark Armstrong (Elise).
Belgium,
Italy, Sweden and Holland all shared a first-round tally of 16
but the Swedes made a good recovery in round 2 following a footperfect
run for Royne Zetterman (Richmond Park) this time out and a second
clear for Helena Lundback (Mynta), and Sweden eventually tied
for fourth place with the Irish when completing on a score of
20 as Maria Sundberg (Carlot) made just a single error at her
second attempt.
Lundback,
Ireland’s Robert Splaine and Frenchman Michel Hecart produced
the only three double-clears of the competition but the Irishman’s
superb feat with this relatively untried home-bred stallion could
not prevent his side from slipping down the scoreboard when Cian
O’Connor (Waterford Crystal) added four more faults to the
eight collected first time out and both Twomey and Charles left
two fences on the floor.
The
British, meanwhile, rallied strongly with Richard Davenport (Grand
Marnier) redeeming himself admirably with a faultless round following
four errors first time out and when Smith made just a single mistake
once again and Whitaker was once more beaten only by the clock
for a single time fault their total of 18 proved good enough for
third spot.
The
Germans however were leaving nothing to chance and when Marco
Kutscher (Montender) got it absolutely right after a disappointing
first-round total of 12 then Becker’s 4 faults could be discounted
as Beerbaum and Ehning galloped home fault-free.
But
the French were, once more, in a class of their own and de Balanda
could watch happily from the sidelines as Levallois, Angot and
Hecart sealed victory with unmistakable ease.
French
Chef d’Equipe, Jean Maurice Bonneau, had said at Friday’s
Press Launch and Draw that the Samsung Super League was his team’s
main priority for 2003 but this opening victory was particularly
satisfying for a lot of other reasons too. "It was a point
of honour for us to show that we did not take the team Championship
in Jerez by chance" he said afterwards. "We wanted to
show our home crowd just how good we can be and I am very happy
that we did ourselves proud" he added.
He
had advised Reynald Angot not to jump in the second round of the
Grand Prix on Friday to save his horse and he was pleased that
it paid off. "I have no real strategy with my riders"
he pointed out. "I have told them that I will not always
have the same horse and rider opening and closing the competition
– I will be moving them around because that way they always
have to keep an open mind and cannot become complacent".
He
was particularly delighted with the double-clear performance of
Michel Hecart’s Quilano de Kalvarie as the horse had been
suffering from tendon problems and only recently returned to work
– "Quilano is an exceptional horse and it is great to
have him back in the team but my challenge now is how to manage
the squad so that I have the best possible teams for Rome and
St Gallen – I have to keep looking ahead" he said.
For
France this was the perfect result and with maximum points from
this fixture the reigning World Champions are feeling very good
indeed but for Italy, who finished last of the eight teams on
a total of 49 faults after disastrous second-round performances
from the Chimirri brothers Vincenzo and Bruno the road ahead must
seem very daunting.
Rome
hosts the next leg of the Samsung Super League in just two weeks
time and the Italians will want to show considerably better form
on their home turf. Perhaps however they can take some encouragement
from Jean Maurice Bonneau’s final comment yesterday –
"I BELIEVE in this competition – the top teams in the
world are competing against each other but it’s a case of
going step-by-step – each competition provides a new opportunity
to show what you can do" he said. Italy will be hoping to
shake off today’s experience when the teams all next line
out in the Piazza di Siena on May 23rd.
Results
:
France
– 4 faults : Eric Levallois/Diamant de Semilly 4+0, Reynald
Angot/Tlaloc M 4+0, Michel Hecart/Quilano de Kalvarie 0+0, Gilles
de Balanda/Crocus Graverie 0.
Germany – 12 faults : Markus Ehning/For Pleasure 4+0, Marco
Kutscher/Montender 12+0, Otto Becker/Grandilot 4+4, Ludger Beerbaum/Gladdys
S 4+0.
Great Britain – 18 faults : Scott Smith/Cabri d’Elle
4+4, Mark Armstrong/Elise 6+12, Richard Davenport/Grand Marnier
16+0, Michael Whitaker/Handel 1+1.
Equal 4 –
Ireland
– 20 faults : Robert Splaine/Coolcorran Cool Diamond 0+0,
Cian O’Connor/Waterford Crystal 8+4, Billy Twomey/Luidam
4+8, Peter Charles/Corrada 4+8.
Sweden
– 20 faults: Helena Persson/Classic H 12+Elim, Royne Zetterman/Richmond
Park 4+0, Maria Sundberg/Carlot 12+4, Helena Lundback/Mynta 0+0.
Holland
– 28 faults : Gert Jan Bruggink/Joel 0+4, Eric Van Der Vleuten/Audi’s
Jikke 12+Abb, Wim Schroder/Eurocommerce Berlin 4+0, Angelique
Hoorn/Hascal 18+4.
7. Belgium – 28 faults : Philippe Lejeune/Nabab de Reve 12+0,
Stany Van Paesschen/O de Pomme 12+4, Jos Lansink/AK Caridor Z
4+8, Ludo Philippaerts/Verelst Raspoetin 0+8.
8. Italy – 49 faults : Massimo Grossato/Loro Piana Elkintot
0+8, Vincenzo Chimirri/Askoll Defi Platiere 8+21, Bruno Chimirri/Landknecht
8+Abb, Filippo Moyersoen/Loro Piana Garibaldi 12+4.
SAMSUNG
SUPER LEAGUE TABLE – AFTER ROUND 1 AT LA BAULE:
1.
France - 10 points
2.
Germany - 7 points
3.
Great Britain - 5 points
4.
Ireland - 3.5 points
Sweden
- 3.5 points
6.
Holland - 2 points
7.
Belgium - 1 point
8.
Italy - 0.5 points.
YOU
CAN SEE IT ON TV!
The
first leg of the Samsung Super League series at La Baule will
be broadcast as follows –
Equidia
(Host Broadcaster) Sun 11 May 18.00-19.30 Sun 11 May 23.00-00.30
Eurosport
Wed 14 May 22.00-23.00 Thurs 15 May 09.00-10.00
CNBC
Sports (Europe GMT) Sat 24 May 13.00-14.00
(Asia
HKT) Sat 31 May 15.00-16.00
ESPN
Star Sports (Star Asia) Wed 21 May 18.00-19.00
Sun
25 May 04.00-05.00
(Star
SE Asia) Wed 21 May 18.00-19.00
Thurs
22 May 04.00-05.00
(Star
India) Thurs 22 May 14.30-15.30
Sat
24 May 05.00-06.00.
M-NET
Fri 6 June (no time confirmed)
TV4
Weds 14 May 20.00
NOS
(Netherlands) Live/Delayed Live
RAI
(Italy) Live/Delayed Live
TVE
(Spain) Live/Delayed Live.
A
reminder of the schedule for the Samsung Super League series:
Round/Venue/
Date/ Nations Cup Day
1.
La Baule FRA (8-11 May) Sunday 11 May
2. Rome ITA (22-25 May) Friday 23 May
3. St Gallen SUI (29 May – 1 June) Sunday 1 June
4. Aachen GER (17-22 June) Friday 20 June
5. Hickstead GBR (23-27 July) Friday 25 July
6. Dublin IRL (6-10 August) Friday 8 August
7. Rotterdam NED (28-31 August) Friday 29 August
8. Barcelona ESP (18-21 September) Sunday 21 September.
You
can access all the latest Samsung Super League news and information
on our new website www.samsungsuperleague.com
and don’t forget that Biographies on all Riders competing
in the series are available at http://bios.horsesport.org.
For
full results, start lists, course plans and press releases from
this weekend’s CSIO you can view La Baule website at www.labaule-cheval.com.
Want
to know more? You can check the full rules for the Samsung Super
League series on the FEI website, section reference – rules
http://www.horsesport.org/fei/reference/reference_03/ref_03_02.html
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.
www.horsesport.org
.
