The Longines FEI World Cup of Basel once again promised to deliver top-class sport. Forty of the best riders gathered on Swiss soil of which only seven could survive the technical course. One of them was Henrik von Eckermann. On the back of King Edward (v. Edward), the World No. 1 really must have felt like king of the world, winning this prestigious jumping.
On the starters list of the jump-off were: Henrik von Eckermann, Marcus Ehning, Gerrit Nieberg, Kevin Jochems, Pia Reich and the two local riders Pius Schwizer and Edouard Schmitz. The world number one, von Eckermann, did not break under the pressure of his role as favorite and jumped an outstanding jump-off in the saddle of King Edward (by Edward). The duo bettered the set time of Marcus Ehning and Stargold (by Stakkato Gold) by six hundredths of a second. Full of excitement, it was waiting to see if anyone could do even better but it soon became clear that von Eckermann and King Edward had put in an astounishing performance. Von Eckermann and King Edward can thus add another World Cup victory to their palmares. Ehning remained steadfast in second place. Local combination Pius Schwizer delivered true excitement in front of his own audience. Vancouver de Lanlore (by Toulon) did what was expected of him but fell just a bit short of speed to move higher than bronze.
Gerrit Nieberg was right behind Schwizer but could not get past him with Ben (by Sylvain) and finished just outside the top three in fourth place. Dutchman Kevin Jochems provided a top performance and filled in fifth place with La Costa (v. Gitano v Berkenbroeck). Pia Reich also got to try her luck and kept Pb Chaconie (v. Chacco-Blue) clear resulting in sixth place. Seventh and last combination in the jump-off was Edouard Schmitz. With Gamin van't Naastveldhof (by Chacco Chacco), he had a jumping fault and thus rounded out the list of the seven finalists.