Back-to-back wins for Ukraine in FEI Nations Cup series with success in Odense

Three fault-free runs helped secure the result for them who finished with more than a fence in hand over the runners-up from The Netherlands to record their second victory in seven days having won the previous Europe Division 2 leg in Celje, Slovenia.

Spain finished a close third, with Belgium and the host nation Denmark tied for fourth place ahead of Finland in sixth and Germany in seventh place.

Thirteen nations competed in Odense with seven of those chasing points towards the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping 2016 Final in Barcelona, Spain, in September.

The 12 fence course designed by Denmark’s Bo Bak Andersen and time-allowance of 72 seconds proved tough as there were no double-clear performances, although seven horse-and-rider combinations jumped clear in round one, and four jumped clear in round two.

The Ukrainians already looked confident when sharing the lead at the halfway stage with Belgium on a four-fault scoreline. Many of the team-managers were providing relative newcomers to this level of the sport with an opportunity to show what they could do, but Najib Chami’s Ukrainian selection was filled with experience. It was still no walk-in-the-park for the eventual winners, as the Dutch and Spanish piled on the pressure second time out.

Team Austria appeared to be lying in eighth place at the end of the first round, but when anchorman, Christian Romberg, was disqualified after leaving the arena with five faults, then his country’s tally of 28 was way too much to see them make the cut.

And when, next in line, the Japanese team decided to withdraw, there was a seven-nation second round in prospect.

Finland’s hopes vanished with the addition of 24 faults while the Germans also dropped away when putting 25 more on their score-card. The host nation rallied with a nine-fault total second time out, however the Belgians began to lose their grip on the lead when they added 16 more faults to their first-round total of 24 before picking up a time fault.

The time-allowed of 72 seconds proved problematic in both rounds, but while it did not affect the final two Belgians, the fences did with a total of 16 faults seeing their chances fade fast.

The Spanish did not appear to be faring much better as their second round began with a 13-fault total for Diego Perez Bilbao who had only a single time fault at their first effort. And when second-line rider, Armando Trapeze with Macao, posted a 12-fault result it seemed Spain’s day was all but done. However Laura Roquet Puignero rode a clear round which backed up by another zero score from Manuel Anon Suarez on Rackel Chavannaise put them right back in the game with a final team total of 19 faults.

The Dutch kept in touch with Robbert Ehrens and Hisa coming home with just the last element of the Longines triple combination fence on the floor and Stefanie van der Brink on Baronescha picking up four faults at the open water.
Their effort was hampered by elimination for Suzanne Tepper in the first round but even though she decided not to return in the second round, they could still rely on Jur Vrieling as anchorman. However their team scoreline of 13-faults was increased to 17 when he saw a fence down on an otherwise clear tour of the track.

That left Ukraine with more than a fence in hand, but when Cassio Rivetti on Torgal de Virton brought a fence down and Ulrich Kirchhoff’s Gabbiano put a foot in the water, it meant Ferenc Szentirmai”s double-fault needed to be cut adrift and Rene Tebbel on Giljandro van den Bosrand as last to go did not have much room for error.

A fence down would see Ukraine finish one fault ahead of The Netherlands, an additional time fault and they would be on level pegging, but if two fences were down it was all over and the Dutch would come out the winners. However Tebbel rode safely home to complete the Ukrainian’s victory with a final 12 fault-scoreline.

It means they now hold a 65-point lead over Spain in second place on the Europe Division 2 League standings, with their next outing set for Sopot in Poland in three weeks’ time.

Before then, next Friday, 27 May, sees two legs of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping 2016 take place. Piazza di Siena in Rome, Italy will host the third leg of the Europe Division 1 series, whilst Lisbon in Portugal is the venue for round four of the Europe Division 2 League.
Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping 2016 Europe Division 2 League
Result: Odense, Denmark

1. Ukraine 12 faults
2. Netherlands 17
3. Spain 19
4. Belgium 25
Denmark 25
5. Finland 36
6. Germany 37
Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping 2016 Europe Division 2 League
Standings after third leg at Odense, Denmark

1. Ukraine 290
2. Spain 235
3. Poland 140
4. Austria 135
5. Luxembourg 120
6. Norway 115
7. Russia 102.5
8. Hungary 92.5
9. Denmark 70
10. Finland 55
11. Portugal 47.5
Turkey 47.5
12. Slovenia 35.0