A thrilling jump-off with Germany led to Switzerland to claim the top spot at the first qualifying competition of the Longines EEF Series, once again hosted at the Italian venue of Gorla Minore. The United Arab Emirates produced a fantastic first-phase performance to finish in third whilst host nation Italy wound up in fourth place.
Three nations went into the second round on a team total of zero penalties. These were the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who with a young squad some might consider the underdogs, alongside showjumping powerhouses, Germany and Switzerland. Norway and host nation, Italy came forward on eight faults each.
The second round saw mixed fortunes for UAE with Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi having an unlucky rail on Enjoy de la Mure, a horse well-versed in the Series having campaigned last season for Spain. Salim Ahmed Al Suwaidi also rolled a pole with Foncetti VD Heffink, as did Abdullah Mohd Al Marri. However, Ali Hamad Al Kirbi and his experienced partner Jarlin de Torres jumped a super clear, putting his nine faults from the first round well behind him.
Switzerland gave a very solid performance in the first round with a team that included debutants Gilles Müller and Eva Gautschi who both posted clears alongside Dominik Fuhrer to take 0 faults through. In the second round Dominik Fuhrer and Gilles Müller, both riding 13 year old Dutch bred horses, produced effortless performances which set up their final rider, Barbara Schnieper, on her lovely Swiss bred mare Judy KM to try and take the win. Sadly with two rails down, Switzerland finished with 4 faults, and opened up the possibility of a jump-off.
Swiss chef d’equipe Peter van der Waaij said; “We had a very interesting team with two riders making their debut, Gilles Müller and Eva Gautschi. They both did very well, Gilles with a double clear and Eva also with a clear so we’re very happy with that. You can never expect a victory, but we always go for a victory and we had a very good team, good horses who jumped a lot of clears so we knew we had a good chance for the podium, but to win is always special.”
“This Series is very important for us. It gives us an opportunity to bring up new pairs, new riders, new horses. I think Nations Cups in general are very important for the sport, but also at this level it is very good to build people and horses up.”
“Next week we have Mannheim, so that’s a big goal with a different team, and hopefully we can go back to back!”
Debutant Gilles Müller added: “Of course it's really nice to start my senior Nations Cup like this, with a double clear. I had some experience from the juniors and young riders but to do it in the Seniors is so different. I’ve known my horse 8 or 9 years now, so I know her inside out, so doing it together with her is extra special I think”.
source: EEF
