 |
Federation
Equestre Internationale News
Samsung Super League 2004 : Deutschland Do It In La Baule….
|
Germany
won the first leg of the 2004 Samsung Super League series in the
newly-renovated stadium at La Baule today with convincing jumping
from their crack squad but the home side, and defending champions,
lost nothing in defeat when finishing in second position.
France
and Germany were joint-leaders at the end of the first round with
both teams on a zero score while the USA, making their Super League
debut, held third spot carrying just eight faults.
However
16 faults from Peter Wylde and Lauriston and 12 for both Judy
Garofalo (Oliver) and Laura Kraut (Anthem) second time out dropped
the Americans to fifth at the end of the day behind the British
who completed with a total of 29 faults. Nick Skelton and Arko
boosted the British effort with one of three double-clear performances
– the other two produced by Germany’s Marco Kutscher
riding Montender and Frenchman Michel Hecart with Quilano de Kalvarie.
Quilano also jumped double-clear in last year’s Samsung Super
League inaugural event at La Baule.
Ireland
shared sixth position with Holland when both teams clocked up
a score of 33 faults while the Italians finished last, seriously
hampered by the elimination of Bruno Chimirri who retired in round
one after a crashing fall from Landknecht at the combination.
Roberto Arioldi’s 20 faults with Loro Piana Dime de la Cour
then had to be counted and this did not do justice to an excellent
first clear from Massimo Grossato with Loro Piana Elkintot and
just four faults from Emanuele Fiorelli riding Western Union Gibus
de Mon.
Many
of the riders expressed major concerns about Olaf Petersen’s
track before the competition began but it rode well. However the
combination at fence six, which was approached off a left-hand
turn and which was followed by an upright at fence seven, caused
plenty of problems while riders also ran into trouble at the double
at fence 10 which had a short distance between the two elements
and came after the water-jump.
Ludger
Beerbaum chose to retire Goldfever in round one after Markus Ehning
(Anka), Marco Kutscher (Montender) and Christian Ahlmann (Coster)
all jumped clear but, unlike the circumstances at the Samsung
Super League Final in Barcelona last September, Ludger was obliged
to jump in round two when Ehning picked up eight faults and Ahlmann
collected four at their second attempt. A single mistake from
Michel Robert (Galet d’Auzay), four faults for Christian
Hermon (Ephebe Forever) who had collected two time penalties first
time out, and two fences down for Florian Angot (First de Launay)
in round two put the pressure on the final French rider Michel
Hecart (Quilano de Kalvarie) who received huge applause when leaving
all the fences intact once again but Ludger’s second-round
clear sealed victory by an eight-fault margin and puts Germany
at the top of the Samsung Super League leaderboard at this early
stage of the series.
Speaking
about his team’s victory Marco Kutscher said afterwards "if
you have been jumping at the World Cup final in Milano less than
two weeks ago it is a big question about bringing your horse to
the first Super League event but I believe we made the right decision
and I’m very pleased with Montender today. Last year at La
Baule he had three fences down in the first round and then went
clear in the second round, now one year later he is that much
better and more experienced and right now he is in particularly
good form. I wondered if it might be too much to bring him to
this event but he jumped so easy in Milano where he finished fifth
and now I will give him a rest before the German Championships
in the beginning of June. After that he will do the second qualifier
for the Olympic Games in Aachen and I hope to be on the team".
Talking
about the course he said "for a Super League Nations Cup
the course should be difficult but you can see it was a good course
today because we had 2 or three double-clear rounds and there
were no disasters – it was difficult but fair".
Ludger
Beerbaum described the going in the arena as good "thanks
to the ideal weather" and talked about Olympic selection
for Athens. "We have six good horse-and-rider combinations
in Germany who are in contention for the team" he said, adding
that Chef d’Equipe Kurt Gravemeier "can count on us
for sure".
La
Baule was one of the few places in Europe to enjoy sunshine today,
although the strong winds were bitterly cold, and the French crowd
had plenty to celebrate as a special presentation was made to
their newly-crowned FEI World Cup champion Bruno Broucqsault during
the intermission between the two rounds of competition.
RESULT:
1.
Germany - 4 faults: Markus Ehning/Anka 0+8, Marco Kutscher/Montender
0+0, Christian Ahlmann/Coster 0+4, Goldfever/Ludger Beerbaum Elim+0.
2.
France - faults: Michel Robert/Galet D’Auzay 0+12, Christian
Hermon/Ephebe Forever 2+4, Florian Angot/First de Launay 0+8,
Michel Hecart/Quilano de Kalvarie 0+0.
3.
Belgium - 22 faults: Philippe Lejeune/Kingchem 4+16, Jean Claude
Vangeenberghe/Osta Rugs Quintus 8+4, Ludo Philippaerts/Kira 5+0,
Jos Lansink/AK Caridor Z 4+5.
4.
Great Britain - 20 faults: Robert Smith/Mr Springfield 0+16, Michael
Whitaker/Fleur 13+8, Scott Smith/Cabri D’Elle 9+12, Nick
Skelton/Arko 0+0.
5.
USA - 32 faults: Peter Wylde/Lauriston 4+16, Judy Garofalo/Oliver
8/12, Kimberly Frey/Marylou 4+0, Laura Kraut/Anthem 0+12.
Equal
6. The Netherlands - 33 faults: Gert Jan Bruggink/Joel 4+12, Jan
Tops/VDL Groep Grande Dame 8+5, Albert Zoer/Lowina 4+16, Leopold
Van Asten/VDL Groep Fleche Rouge 4+4.
Equal
6. Ireland - 33 faults: Peter Charles/Pershing 20+17, Jessica
Kurten/Quibell 4+8, Cian O’Connor/Waterford Crystal 9+4,
Kevin Babington/Carling King 8+0.
8.
Italy - 44 faults: Massimo Grossato/Loro Piana Elkintot 0+4, Emanuele
Fiorelli/ Western Union Gibus du Mon 4+12, Bruno Chimirri/Landknecht
Elim+22, Roberto Arioldi/Loro Piana Dime de la Cour 20+4.
SAMSUNG
SUPER LEAGUE LEADERBOARD (after Round 1 at La Baule):
Germany
10 points
France 7 points
Belgium 5 points
Great Britain 4 points
USA 3 points
Equal 6. Ireland and The Netherlands 1.5
Italy
0.5.
For full details and results from La Baule see website www.labaule-cheval.com
or email contact@unidfox.com.
THE
MBPtv BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR THE SAMSUNG NATIONS CUP COMPETITION
AT LA BAULE IS AS FOLLOWS:
Equidia
(France) Live/Delayed Live 7 May 18.00 hrs, Repeat 9 May 22.30/16
May 22.00
Eurosport
(Pan Europe) Highlights 12 May 22.30, Repeat 20 May 09.00
CNBC
Europe Highlights 5 June
ESPN
Star Sports (Asia) Highlights 19 May 18.00 hrs
M-Net
(Pan Africa) Highlights 28 May 20.00 hrs, Repeat 29 May/1 June
RTE
(Ireland) Live/Delayed Live
TVE
(Spain) Live/Delayed Live
RAI
(Italy) Live/?Delayed Live
Finnish
Sport TV Company (Finland) Highlights
Sport
TV (Portugal) Highlights
XXP
(Germany) Highlights
CNBC
Europe Highlights
Horse
TV (USA) Highlights
NOS
(Dutch TV) 7 May/9 May.
SAMSUNG
SUPER LEAGUE 2004 CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
ROUND
1, La Baule (Fra) 6-9 May; ROUND 2, Rome (Ita) 27-30 May; ROUND
3, Lucerne (Sui) 3-6 June: ROUND 4, Rotterdam (Ned) 17-20 June;
ROUND 5, Aachen (Ger) 13-18 July; ROUND 6, Hickstead (GBR) 21-25
July; ROUND 7, Dublin (Irl) 4-8 August; ROUND 8 and FINAL, Barcelona
(Esp) 16-19 September.
SAMSUNG
SUPER LEAGUE – NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!
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, section reference – rules
http://www.horsesport.org/fei/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
.
