Sopot: German show jumpers win Nations Cup
Sopot (fn-press).
With a furious victory and without penalty points, the German show jumping team finished the Nations Cup at the five-star CSIO in Sopot, Poland. Maurice Tebbel (Emsbüren) with Don Diarado, Christian Kukuk (Riesenbeck) with Mumbai and André Thieme (Plau am See) with DSP Chakaria mastered both rounds without any penalties, so that the faults of Marcus Ehning (Borken) and Funky Fred did not matter as a scratch result.
It remained exciting until the last rider. Germany and Belgium were in the lead after the two rounds of the Nations Cup without any penalties. As the last rider, the Belgian Niels Brynseels with the gelding Delux T&L had to enter the course. He had it in his hands: If he remained clear, a jump-off between Germany and Belgium would decide the outcome; if he collected a drop, then Germany would be the winner. Not only did Bruynseels drop one bar, he even failed twice, so that his ride became the result of the jump-off. The German team had won the Nations Cup without a single penalty point, the Belgians were second (four faults), third place went to the Irish team (16). Norway and Great Britain also had 16 penalty points, but the worse times and finished fourth and fifth.
No less than three German pairs were clear in both rounds: Maurice Tebbel managed a perfect start with the twelve-year-old Rhenish stallion Don Diarado (by Diarado), Christian Kukuk and the only nine-year-old stallion Mumbai, a son of Diamant de Semilly bred in Belgium, were again convincing all along the line, and André Thieme's eleven-year-old mare Chakaria by Chap (Deutsches Sportpferd) also showed her great potential. Only for Marcus Ehning did things not go optimally in the Nations Cup. His 16-year-old gelding Funky Fred (by For Pleasure), bred by his family, collected two faults in the first round and four faults in the second round.
National trainer Otto Becker was thrilled. "We are of course super, super happy. In Rome and St. Gallen we were second in the Nations Cup after jump-offs, and now it worked out with the victory. The course was difficult, but fair. I was very happy about the three clear rounds, those were outstanding performances." He had extra praise for André Thieme: "Andre was already fourth in the Grand Prix on Friday, and now double zero, that's great." In two weeks, the next Nations Cup is on the schedule. Then the show jumpers will meet at the CSIO5* in Rotterdam. The final of the Nations Cup series of the FEI World Equestrian Federation will again be held in Barcelona at the beginning of October. hen
