Today, the first round of the Global Champions League final took place in Riyadh. In the quarterfinals, 10 teams competed, each represented by 3 horse-rider combinations. With a sublime field of participants, the Shanghai Swans, represented by Olympic champion Ben Maher among others, took the lead. The best 8 teams will start in the semifinals tomorrow, together with the top four teams of the annual ranking!
The Shanghai Swans were the only ones to remain completely faultless in this first round. Ben Maher relied on his Swedish Point Break (Action-Breaker) for this. 'We are starting this week with experienced horses. We want to make a statement here that we are ready to claim the title!' says Ben Maher.
'The fact that the horses jumped very well gives me a good feeling for tomorrow,' says Deusser. 'But we don't have a real advantage. Because tomorrow everything starts again from 0 with four new teams at the start and half of today.' Deusser started with his 14-year-old Killer Queen VDM (Eldorado vd Zeshoek). Max Kühner saddled Elektric Blue P (Eldorado vd Zeshoek) for the course. '
Tomorrow, as Daniel has already said, a lot can still happen. So I'm not going to get carried away! Because the light is good here, but not very bright, which means that some horses - as it turned out tonight - are a bit spooky!'
The best eight of the teams from this quarterfinal will return tomorrow for the semifinals, where the top four teams from the ranking will also start. In this quarterfinal, Rome Gladiators followed in second place. For this team, Lorenzo de Luca with Denver de Talma (Vigo Cece), Kyle Timm with Casino Calvin (Casino Berlin) and Nina Mallevaey with Dynastie de Beaufour (Diamant de Semilly) competed.
Valkenswaard United finished third. For this team, Belgian champion Gilles Thomas with Luna van het Dennehof (Prince van de Wolfsakker) and Marcus Ehning with Coolio 42 (Casalito) kept it faultless.
The Shanghai Swans were the only ones to remain completely faultless in this first round. Ben Maher relied on his Swedish Point Break (Action-Breaker) for this. 'We are starting this week with experienced horses. We want to make a statement here that we are ready to claim the title!' says Ben Maher.
'The fact that the horses jumped very well gives me a good feeling for tomorrow,' says Deusser. 'But we don't have a real advantage. Because tomorrow everything starts again from 0 with four new teams at the start and half of today.' Deusser started with his 14-year-old Killer Queen VDM (Eldorado vd Zeshoek). Max Kühner saddled Elektric Blue P (Eldorado vd Zeshoek) for the course. '
Tomorrow, as Daniel has already said, a lot can still happen. So I'm not going to get carried away! Because the light is good here, but not very bright, which means that some horses - as it turned out tonight - are a bit spooky!'
The best eight of the teams from this quarterfinal will return tomorrow for the semifinals, where the top four teams from the ranking will also start. In this quarterfinal, Rome Gladiators followed in second place. For this team, Lorenzo de Luca with Denver de Talma (Vigo Cece), Kyle Timm with Casino Calvin (Casino Berlin) and Nina Mallevaey with Dynastie de Beaufour (Diamant de Semilly) competed.
Valkenswaard United finished third. For this team, Belgian champion Gilles Thomas with Luna van het Dennehof (Prince van de Wolfsakker) and Marcus Ehning with Coolio 42 (Casalito) kept it faultless.