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Federation
Equestre Internationale News
Samsung Super League 2004 - All Set For Aachen.............
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The
fifth leg of the Samsung Super League 2004 takes place in Aachen,
Germany this Friday and looks set to be a real thriller.
Aachen
has long been one of the most prestigious shows in the entire
equestrian calendar and with reconstruction of the venue underway
ahead of the World Equestrian Games which will take place there
in September 2006 the facilities just keep improving.
Nations
Cup jumping was first staged in Aachen in 1929 when a team from
Sweden reigned supreme and over the following years the World
Jumping Championships have been held there twice – in 1956
and 1986 – while it was also the venue for the European Jumping
Championships in 1958, 1965 and 1971.
Aachen
was voted Worlds Best Outdoor Event by the international show
jumping riders in 1990, 1994 and 1996 and in 2001 had a record-breaking
attendance of 299,000 spectators. A big attendance is expected
this year too because so many of the participating nations are
using this leg of the Samsung Super League to take one more look
at their riders before making a final decision about teams for
the Athens Olympic Games.
As
a result, the line-up is top-class and the result may well give
some indication of what we can expect to see happening in Greece
in six weeks time.
The
Irish, struggling to stay off the bottom of the leaderboard this
time around, were victorious at Aachen in 2003 and two members
of that squad – Billy Twomey and Kevin Babington – are
in action again this year.
The
atmosphere in the Irish camp has been more than a little strained
in the aftermath of the sacking and subsequent reinstatement of
Eddie Macken as trainer and new Chef d’Equipe, Colonel Ned
Campion, is under enormous pressure as he attempts to follow in
the footsteps of Tommy Wade who has been demoted to Chef for the
Irish teams competing in the ordinary Samsung Nations Cup series.
Cian
O’Connor, who scored a hat-trick of wins in Falsterbo over
the weekend while also helping Ireland to slot into runner-up
spot in the Nations Cup, lines out alongside Marion Hughes, Jessica
Kurten and Billy Twomey. The latter is expected to make his very
first Nations Cup appearance of 2004 with his top ride Luidam.
Dirk
Demeersman, Ludo Philippaerts and Jos Lansink were on the Belgian
team which placed second at Aachen in 2003 and these three are
this year joined by Philippe Lejeune and Marc van Djick. The Belgians
are looking strong, confident and focused and it took a third-round
jump-off between Ludo and French rider Eugenie Angot to decide
the result in Rotterdam last month. On current form the Belgians
may just be in a position to go one better this time around.
An
American team competed in the German leg of the series last summer
by invitation but, having now achieved Super League status, will
be battling it out for points on Friday. They slotted into third
position in 2003 and a repeat of that result will ensure that
they continue to hold their own as the series progresses.
Peter
Wylde and Chris Kappler were on the 2003 squad and are joined
this time by Beezie Madden, Alison Firestone and McLain Ward.
The
home side finished fourth 12 months ago when Ludger Beerbaum,
Marcus Ehning, Christian Ahlmann and Otto Becker flew the flag.
Ehning, Beerbaum and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum look set for Athens
already but Ahlmann, Otto Becker and Marco Kutscher are still
looking for a place and will be hoping to make the right impression
this week. A good Nations Cup performance from any rider on any
team could be very significant indeed.
The
French should be very interesting to watch. Chef d’Equipe
Jean Maurice Bonneau fields a completely different team to the
one that finished fifth at Aachen last year and there appears
to be a wealth of talent in his selection which includes newly-crowned
FEI World Cup champion Bruno Broucqsault, Christian Hermon, Eric
Navet, Florian Angot and Eugenie Angot.
Eugenie
has created a real buzz since winning the Vigo leg of the World
Cup series and finishing fourth at the final in Milan in April,
and she showed tremendous professionalism along with a really
cool nerve when securing the French victory in Rotterdam last
month in a third-round head-to-head with Ludo Philippaerts.
The
Dutch had a disappointing time at their home leg of the series
last time out but are lying less than three points behind the
French who top the leaderboard at present. Gert-Jan Bruggink and
Wim Schroder were on the Dutch team that slotted into sixth at
Aachen in 2003 but, joined by Leopold Van Asten, Eric Van der
Vleuten and Gerco Schroder they will be hoping to do a great deal
better than that this week.
The
Italians finished seventh a year ago and they really need to get
their act together if they want to remain in the Super League
again next year. They are sitting at the bottom of the league
table, just 0.5 points behind the Irish, and look set for another
nerve-wracking battle for survival but a convincing performance
from the squad of Roberto Arioldi, Piergiorgio Bucci, Luca Carini,
Bruno Chimirri and Emanuele Fiorelli could change all that.
Great
Britain finished eighth ahead of Sweden in ninth spot at last
year’s CHIO in Aachen and both Scott Smith and Robert Smith
who lined out then are back in harness again this time. Chef d’Equipe
Derek Ricketts has travelled with just a four-man squad so Nick
Skelton and John Whitaker complete the line-up and the British,
currently lying fifth, will be hoping to put the controversy which
ensued following the announcement of their Olympic selections
behind them so that they can reinforce their mid-field position
on the league table.
Aachen
is always a supremely important fixture on the international show
jumping calendar but with selections for Athens in the final stages
it has even greater significance this year. Individual results
will count for a great deal during the week but on Friday afternoon
Olympic ambitions will be realised or lost while the teams struggling
to stay alive in the 2004 Samsung Super League series will be
under even greater pressure than the rest.
For
all information about Friday’s leg of the Samsung Super League
2004 series in Aachen contact Press Officer Niels Knippertz –niels.knippertz@aachen2006.de.
You can also email info@chioaachen.de or consult the website www.chioaachen.de.
SAMSUNG
SUPER LEAGUE 2004 LEADERBOARD (AFTER ROUND 4 IN ROTTERDAM):
France
– 25.3
The Netherlands – 22.5
Germany 18.8
Belgium 17.8
Great Britain – 17
USA – 12
Ireland – 8.5
Italy – 8.
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
.
