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Championships, Competitions, FEI, Show Jumping

Record Team Entry for Jumping Championships

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(L to R) The 2013 gold medal winning team of Scott Brash, Will Funnell, Chef d’Equipe Rob Hoekstra, Michael Whitaker and Ben Maher. (FEI/Kit Houghton)

Lausanne (SUI), 11 August 2015 – Riders from a bigger spread of nations than ever before will line out when the FEI European Jumping Championships 2015 get underway in Aachen, Germany next week. A new high was reached when the list of definite Jumping entries was confirmed today, and a massive 29 nations will be represented, while 23 countries will field teams and five will send individuals.

The full list of nations is Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

This is the 32nd edition of the FEI European Jumping Championships, and the fifth time for the event to take place at Aachen. The inaugural FEI European Jumping Championship was held in Rotterdam (NED) in 1957 when German legend, Hans Gunther Winkler, claimed the title. Only individuals competed in the early editions, but as soon as the team event was introduced at Munich (GER) in 1975, Germany laid claim to that too. The German record in these championships is second to none, with 14 individual and seven team titles to their credit.

Defending the team title

However, it is the British who will be defending the team title they won in Herning, Denmark two years ago when the action gets underway on Wednesday 19 August, while Frenchman Roger Yves Bost returns as defending individual champion. The British have a strong record at the Europeans, with six individual and five team titles already on the record books. Their 2013 victory came hot on the heels of their gold-medal-winning performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games, but this time around they will be without their world no 1 rider Scott Brash who was a critical member of that successful side. Michael Whitaker steps up to the challenge once again, however, as does Ben Maher, while the veteran Guy Williams, Joe Clee and the relative newcomer Jessica Mendoza complete the pack. The British broke a 60-year drought when winning Olympic team gold in 2012, yet they still haven’t managed to qualify for Rio 2016. So, along with many others, they will really be feeling the heat next week when the final team qualification is up for grabs.

Despite fielding a typically formidable side, Germany had to settle for silver last time around, so Christian Ahlmann, Ludger Beerbaum, Daniel Deusser, Janne Friederike Meyer and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum will be hoping to restore normal order, especially on home ground. Sweden took bronze in 2013, and Malin Baryard-Johnsson, Douglas Lindelow, Helena Persson, Henrik von Eckermann and Charlotte Mordanini will be hoping to put their country back on that podium. The Irish are in fighting form and completely focused on claiming one of the three Olympic qualifying spots available, but with so many others including the Belgians and the Swiss chasing the same goal it will be no easy feat.

There will be no place to hide from the moment the first individual qualifier begins, because every single jump will count in the battle for both the FEI European Jumping Championships 2015 titles and one of those coveted tickets for Rio.

Individual honours

Roger Yves Bost was only the fifth French rider ever to claim the individual European honours two years ago. Great Britain’s Ben Maher went into the final competition with the narrowest of leads, but a fence down saw him having to settle for silver ahead of team-mate Scott Brash who rose from overnight 10th place to take bronze when producing the only double-clear performance of the day.

Bost was following in famous footsteps, as the list of previous French champions included Pierre Durand and the legendary Jappeloup who first topped the podium at St Gallen (SUI) in 1987, Eric Navet who reigned supreme on home turf at La Baule (FRA) in 1991, Alexandra Ledermann and Rochet M – the first woman ever to take the title – who headed the line-up in Hickstead (GBR) in 1999 and Kevin Staut and Kraque Boom who were winners in Windsor (GBR) in 2009. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum is the only other female champion, pipping Belgium’s Jos Lansink in a thriller at Mannheim (GER) in 2007 during the peak of her partnership with the great Shutterfly. And in the fabulous grey Fibonacci, the American-born German rider has found an extraordinarily talented replacement, so she cannot be overlooked once the action kicks off.

However, 96 riders will be carrying all their hopes and dreams onto the hallowed turf of the Soers arena at Aachen in seven days’ time, and these Championships, which have turned up some of the most memorable moments of this great sport down the years, promise plenty of drama and excitement before the 2015 champions are crowned.

Rules and Competition Format

Wednesday 19th August – First qualifying competition, individuals and teams. Table C (penalties turned into seconds added), fence height 1.50m, open to all athletes and horses declared as starters in the team and individual championship. Starting order decided by a draw.

Following this first competition the scores obtained by each athlete will be converted into points. The athlete with the lowest number of points will be given zero penalties.

Thursday 20th August – Round 1 of team competition, second individual competition. Table A, 1.60, open to all athletes who took part in the first competition. Individuals go first.

Friday 21st August – Team competition final and third individual competition. Table A, not against the clock, 1.60m. Open to the top 50 individuals who carry penalties forward from first individual qualifier and round 1 of the team event. Open to the top 10 teams following the previous day’s competition, including those tied for 10th place. In case of equality of points there will be a jump-off for the team medal positions.

Sunday 23rd August – Individual final open to 25 best-places athletes and horses including ties for 25th place. Two different 1.60m courses will be jumped, with 10-12 obstacles in round A and 8-10 obstacles in round B. Competitors will start in reverse order of merit in both rounds. Individual medals will be determined by adding together penalties from the first competition, the two rounds of the team competition and the two rounds of the final competition.

Facts and Figures:

The FEI European Jumping Championships begin on Wednesday 19 August and run through to the individual final on Sunday 23 August.

Competitors from 28 nations will participate.

23 countries have entered teams.

5 nations will be represented by individual riders.

A total of 96 horse-and-rider combinations are listed in the definite entries (11 August 2015).

This is the 32nd edition of the FEI European Jumping Championships, and the fifth time for the event to take place in Aachen.

The inaugural FEI European Jumping Championship took place in Rotterdam (NED) in 1957.

Only individuals competed in the early Championships. The team event was first introduced at Munich (GER) in 1975.

Back-to-back individual champions – Great Britain’s David Broome with Mr Softee at Rotterdam   (NED) in 1967 and Hickstead (GBR) in 1969.

Back-to-back triple champions – Germany’s Paul Schockemohle and Deister at Munich (GER) in 1981, Hickstead (GBR) in 1983 and Dinard (FRA) in 1985.

Germany holds the record for the biggest number of individual victories with 14 in total over the last 58 years.

Germany also holds the record for the greatest number of wins in the team event, with seven to date.

Only one horse has ever won the individual European Jumping title with two different riders – the Irish-bred Mr Softee who claimed gold for David Barker in 1962 and then produced back-to-back victories for fellow-Briton David Broome in 1967 and 1969.

Defending champions are the British who produced their fifth win at the last Championships staged in Herning, Denmark in 2013.

For more information on the FEI European Championships 2015 in Aachen, visit www.aachen2015.de.

The full list of entries for the FEI European Jumping Championships 2015 is available here.

By Louise Parkes

Media Contacts:

At Aachen:

Niels Knippertz
Press Officer
nielsknippertz@chioaachen.de
+49 (0) 241 9171 182

At FEI:

Grania Willis
Director Media Relations
Grania.willis@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 42

Malina Gueorguiev
Manager Press Relations
malina.gueorguiev@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 33

*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, FEI, Show Jumping

Double-Gold for Croatia, Greece and Slovenia while Turkey Reclaims Senior Team Title

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Slovenia’s Luka Zaloznik and Eloise du Petit Vivier claimed individual gold and team silver in the Senior category at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2014. (Alexis Vassilopoulos/FEI)

Zagreb (CRO), 12 September 2014 – There was a significant swing away from the traditional dominance of Turkey and Greece as the host nation, and the visitors from Slovenia, made a big impact at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2014 staged at Konjicki Klub Karoca in Zagreb, Croatia last weekend.

At the 2013 fixture on their home ground in Istanbul, Turkey claimed five of the seven titles on offer. However, this time around only the Senior Team title remained in their grasp while the Greeks had to settle for a double in the Junior category.

The 2014 championships were held at the Hippodrome in Zagreb, attracting competitors from seven nations – Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey – and the four-day fixture ran from 4 to 7 September.

Children

There was a starting field of 33 horse-and-rider combinations in the Children’s first individual qualifier, and Romania’s Irina Mateescu, riding Lucy Liu, and Marco Alessandro Alfieri, partnering Pirella, placed first and third with Croatia’s Dunja Al Jamal and Gemilio LCS in runner-up spot here.

Al Jamal then joined Filip Jadrijevic (Castro), Eva Golubicek (Tara) and Josip Gugic (Coeur de Croatie) in a jump-off for the team title the following afternoon when Croatia and Turkey were tied on a four-fault result after two rounds. And Al Jamal’s horse never put a foot wrong, kicking off the decider with another lovely clear for the 13-year-old athlete who, last year, won the first qualifying competition before going on to help clinch team bronze in the Children’s event.

Jadrijevic was also a member of the 2013 Children’s bronze medal winning side, but the 14-year-old rider produced a 12-fault result in the first round of this year’s team event before recovering to register a second-round clear and then another foot-perfect run in the jump-off to boost Croatian chances. Third-line rider, Golubicek collected nine faults in the earlier rounds, and another four in the jump-off put all the pressure on Gugic.

A clean sheet

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Taha Yedikardes (Coolina) and Neslihan Esen (Admiral) each kept a clean sheet, but Dogasu Aksoy (Darelle van Bekenhof) didn’t compete in the third round after picking up 10 faults and when Aleyna Irten (Rose) had just a single fence down then Croatia’s Gugic could not afford a mistake. And he didn’t make one, steering the aptly-named 10-year-old Holsteiner, Coeur de Croatie, home to clinch the Children’s team title with another lovely clear performance.

Bronze went to the Greek team that included 2013 silver medallists Paola Martini (Cobbydor) and Anna-Sophia Danalis (Lili Marlen ll Ch) along with Maria-Erietta Katsou (Championess) and Selini Popp (Arabella ll). The Greeks finished on an eight-fault two-round total while Romania’s Irina Mateecu (Lucy Liu), Anne-Marie Blanca Bontea (Gloria), Adelina Adriana Rusu (Tsunami) and Marco Alessandro Alfieri (Pirella) just missed out on a podium placing when finishing on a total of 12 faults.

On Saturday, Croatia’s Gugic and Al Jamal brought the Children’s Championship to the perfect conclusion when taking gold and silver respectively. Gugic’s supremacy was never truly challenged as Coeur de Croatie jumped clear all week to leave his young rider on a zero score while Al Jamal collected just four faults for silver ahead of Selini Popp who claimed individual bronze for Greece.

Juniors

Individual Greek rider, Leonidas Palegdas, won the first Junior individual qualifier with Convertan ahead of Ema Bezik and Up to Date from Croatia, but it was third-placed Andreas Vardinogiannis and Zjohn G who would help Greece take the team title before going on to also clinch individual Junior gold.

The Greeks were convincing team champions when finishing on a zero score after double-clears from both Vardinogiannis and Zjohn G and Ioannis Marinakis riding Magic de France, and just four faults apiece from both George-Alexandros Amoutzas with Coco Lavoro) and Marina Theofanopoulou (Oscar du Perron) which could be discounted in each round. This was a second team gold medal in a row for Theofanopoulou and her horse who also took individual Junior bronze at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 12 months ago.

There was a jump-off for silver when Turkey and Slovenia were tied on 12 faults after the first two rounds. Turkey came out on top when a last-to-go clear from Adrian Onur and WWW Molenheide NL meant the team could drop the six collected by Elif Ozsahin and Timberland and instead count just the single errors registered by pathfinder Asli Bulec with Carolus, and third-line rider Selim Can Guney with Calantus to finish on a total of eight faults.

Slovenia’s Nina Pangersic and Glorija picked up just four faults, but when Anze Sisernik and Quintano K added eight and then Tanit Baukman and Wait n See collected 12 there was no reason for the last-line partnership of Robert Kucer and Law in LA to take their turn because their result would not affect the medal positions. Slovenia still stood well clear of fourth-placed Romania when clinching the bronze, Romania’s Stefan Leonte (Ogica), Vlad Cocioba (Bacardi), Lisa Candin (Landfeuer) and Alexandra Mladin Bradisteanu (Cembalo ll) completing on a total of 33 faults.

Bradisteanu went on to clinch Romania’s only medal of the 2014 championships when steering Cembalo ll into individual bronze medal position behind Turkey’s Selim Can Guney and Calantus in silver. Vardinogiannis and Zjohn G clinched the gold when completing their championship outing on a perfect zero score.

Young Riders

Once again this year there were no Young Rider team medals awarded as only seven competed in this division including five athletes from Greece and one from Turkey. However, it was the sole competitor from Slovenia who stole the individual gold.

Tadej Skaza and Armagedon S won through ahead of the 2013 Junior team gold-medal-winning partnership of Anna-Maria Papageorgiou and LC Waikiki Akino from Greece, while another member of the Greek contingent, Diogenis Palegdas, stood on the third step of the podium. For 20-year-old Palegdas, this went a long way toward making up for just missing out on a medal when finishing fourth at the Young Riders Championship in Athens, Greece two years ago with the same horse, the 11-year-old bay Holsteiner mare Cornelia.

Silver medallist, 19-year-old Papageorgiou, was consistently placed at last year’s championship and, like so many others, has gained a great of experience in the intervening period while newly-crowned gold medallist, Skaza, underlined the increasing potential of athletes from Slovenia.

Seniors

The Slovenian double-success was recorded when Skaza’s fellow-countryman, 30-year-old Luka Zaloznik, steered Eloise du Petit Vivier to clinch Senior individual gold on Sunday, having helped his side to team silver the previous afternoon.

The Slovenian Senior team pinned Romania into bronze by a narrow one-fault margin, Romania’s Razvan Bozan (Quickborn), Ionut Ursache (Vienna), Norbert Schuman (Brutus) and Andy Candin (Carlo) completing on a final tally of 20 faults.

Zaloznik produced the best Slovenian team score when picking up just a single time penalty over the two rounds while Urh Bauman and Coriano Charthago racked up a total of eight, Gregor Terglav (Sunpower Z) collected 10 faults in the first round and the anchor partnership of Andrej Pavlovic and Ciacometti CH produced the discard scores in both rounds.

The gold medal winners from Turkey finished well ahead when Sencer Horasan (Quick de St Hermelle), Ulkan Delikan (Contero), Huiki Karagulle (Skara Glen’s Cascador) and Cagri Basel (Chaccomo) completed on a total of 13.

Basel and Chaccomo are seasoned campaigners, competing at the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2014 division 2 leg at Bratislava in Slovakia last month and at Drammen in Norway earlier in the summer. Horasan was a double-bronze medallist at the FEI Balkan Championships in Athens in 2012.

Slovenia’s Zaloznik, however, pinned Turkey’s Basel into silver medal spot on the final day when Croatia’s Janka Krasovec and Chicofino took individual Senior bronze. Zaloznik’s 10-year-old Belgian-bred mare was a winner at Lummen, Belgium in April and at Abu Dhabi and Al Ain earlier in the year.

By Louise Parkes

Media Contacts:

Grania Willis
Director Press Relations
Email: grania.willis@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 142

Malina Gueorguiev
Manager Media Relations
Email: malina.gueorguiev@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 133

Championships, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

Big Haul of Gold for Turkish Riders on Home Ground in Istanbul

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(L to R) silver medallist Cristian Ceausescu from Romania, gold medallist Ioli Mytilineou from Greece and bronze medallist Marina Theofanopoulou from Greece. Photo: FEI/Alexic Vassilopoulos.

Istanbul (TUR), 13 September 2013 – It was a great result for the host nation of Turkey as they claimed two team and three individual titles at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2013 in Istanbul last weekend.  Greek riders dominated the 2012 edition in Athens, but the situation was reversed this time around when they had to settle for double-gold in the Junior category as the home-side contenders went into over-drive.

Riders from six nations – Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Serbia and Turkey – lined out at this year’s event which also included non-championship classes for Ladies along with a Young Horse category.  Staged at Kemar Golf and Country Club, 28 miles from Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships once again embraced generations of equestrian athletes from the region who shared a great week of sport.

Seven Sets of Medals

French course designer, Jean Philippe Desmaret, was a busy man with seven sets of medals to be decided during the four-day fixture.  And when the first set of medals went to the Greek Junior Team last Friday, it might have seemed a little like history was about to repeat itself.

The Greeks fielded three of the team that won the 2012 Junior title, Iolo Mytilineou once again partnering Ascot, Marina Theofanopoulou again riding Oscar du Perron and Anna-Maria Papageorgiou with a different horse, LC Waikiki Akino.  Stefania Cheinoporos and Championess were the only new recruits to the side, and when they joined Mytilineou and Papageorgiou on a zero first-round score it was already clear they hadn’t lost their touch.  Theofanopoulou produced the only foot-perfect second round, but with just a single error from her three team-mates the Greek total of eight faults left them convincing winners.

Just three countries lined out for the Junior Team title and Turkey took silver when Talya Afyoneri (Wervelwind), Zeynep Aksoy (Axioma Ter Goes Z), Elif Ozsahin (Timberland) and Buse Samli (Matcho) racked up a 24-fault result.  This left them well clear of the Romanian side of Claudiu Floristean (Carnaval ll), Stefan Leonte (Ogici), Corneliu Paul Iionescu (Dona Doll) and Cristian Ceausescu (Duende) in bronze with 50 faults at the end of the day.

Mytilineou, who competed at this summer’s FEI European Junior Jumping Championship at Vejar de la Frontera in Spain and who is considered one of the great hopes for the future of the sport of Jumping in Greece, claimed the Individual title for the third time in succession, but it wasn’t without a battle.  The 16-year-old rider went into a medal-deciding jump-off with 18-year-old Cristian Ceausescu from Romania who, with four faults in a slower time, filled silver-medal spot.  The Greeks really left their mark on this one when Theofanopoulou claimed bronze as Cheinporous just missed out on a podium placing.

Comfort Zone

Winners of the Children’s Team title last year, the Greeks had to settle for silver this time around as the home-side competitors moved into their comfort zone.  Double-clear from pathfinder Emre Eratici (Village Born), third-line rider Necmi Eren (Grandioos BZ) and anchorman Emir Kocak (Florentine) left them completely fault-free and in a position to drop the 20 collected by Ahmet Berk Basegmez (Zara).

The combined-time rule decided silver and bronze, with the Greek side of Anna-Sophia Danalis (Lili Marlen ll), Andreas Vardinogiannis (Litium), Paola Martini (Cobbydor) and Konstantinos-Evangelos Papathanassiou (Quatuor des Bordes) getting the advantage.  Their time of 217.05 seconds left them almost three seconds faster than Croatia’s Laura Dragicevic (Aidora l Ritz), Filip Jadrijevic (Castro), Dunja Al Jamal (Filou du Pichoux) and Nina Madirazza (Lavai) when both teams finished on four faults.  Bulgaria completed with a 12-fault total in fourth place ahead of Romania with 25.

It took a jump-off to decide the Individual Children’s title and in the end just 0.20 separated 13-year old Turkish gold medallist Emir Kocak from 14-year-old Ventsislav Isov from Bulgaria in silver, while Paola Martini from Greece claimed the bronze.

There was no Young Riders Team event this year as there were not sufficient numbers to make up more than two teams, but three nations shared the podium in the Individual Championship.

It was topped by Turkey’s Yusuf Cem Kayacan and his eight-year-old bay mare Abner while Bulgaria’s Kristian Valev steered his 11-year-old Belgian-bred mare Ching van Berkenbroeck into silver medal spot.  Serbia’s Irena Ilic took the bronze with her 10-year-old Holsteiner stallion, Clear, after winning the Grand Prix on the final day.

No Stopping Home Contingent

With the bit now firmly between their teeth there was now no stopping the home contingent as they swept to team gold before clinching two of the three Senior Individual medals.

Turkish pathfinders, Husnu Dinc and Chiara, produced one of just three clears in the Senior Team Championship in which all five nations racked up significant scores.  Dinc led the way with a four-fault result before producing his clean sheet second time out with Chiara, and when Sencer Can (Ballistic) and Mert Alicioglu (Valdos) collected 12 faults over the two rounds, then the 40 picked up by Kaan Kiilkaplan (Cordijana ll) could be discarded for final tally of 28.  The proved plenty good enough for gold when Greece finished with 40 to take silver ahead of Bulgaria in bronze on a final scoreline of 45.

The clear registered by Monika Martini and Cleopatra Vl was pivotal to the result of the Greek team that also included Grigoris Voglis (Quetcha de Chenee), Stelios Stavroulakis (Alerion 2) and Dimitri Natsis (Cartago).  Bulgarian anchorman, Angel Niagolov, was also foot-perfect first time out with Cartina, and only a single fault separated these two sides at the half-way stage.

Dramatic Improvement

There was a dramatic improvement in the Bulgarian performance in round two when pathfinder, Ivaylo Bonev, followed his eight-fault first-round effort with just a single mistake with Mister Big, Vladimir Georgiev and Farina added just eight faults to the 17 collected first time out and Asparum Atanasov and Colorado following their 22-fault first effort with 14 at their second attempt.  A second clear from Niagolov would have seen Bulgaria clinch silver, but two fences down saw them finish with the bronze.

The event finished on a really high note when Turkey took two of the three Senior Individual Championship medals, including gold for Husnu Dinc and Chiara and bronze for Mert Aligioglu and Valdos.  Silver went to Bulgaria’s Niagolov and Chiara.

Successful Week

Turkish Chef d’Equipe, Kerem Alkan, said, “We have really enjoyed the atmosphere here in Istanbul and we had a very successful week. In general the performance of the Turkish National Teams were satisfying and we were expecting these results from our team. Furthermore, we have high hopes for the next year’s European Children and Junior Championship.”

Junior Individual Champion, Ioli Mytilineou from Greece, said, “I was extremely happy with our performance in the Junior category, both team and individual, at this year’s Balkan championships. My horse, Ascot, was a star and did everything right, he just got better and better throughout the championship to help me win individual gold. We also won team gold, due to a strong team, with every member contributing to this achievement. I really enjoyed the competition and the place and facilities were great.”

Her mother, Hannah Mytilineou, was Greek Chef d’Equipe and commented, “I would like to thank the Turkish federation for their hospitality. This year’s Balkans took place in Kemer Club, a beautiful setting with super facilities. Everything was lovely and the new federation did their very best to keep things running smoothly. As a nation we were satisfied with our results and along with a good number of medals we heard our national anthem four times, which is always something to be proud of!”

Results:

FEI Balkan Senior Team Jumping Championship:  GOLD – Turkey 28 faults: Chiara (Husnu Dinc) 4/0, Cordijana ll (Kaan Kizilkaplan) 24/16, Ballistic (Sencer Can) 8/4, Valdos (Mert Alicioglu) 4/8; SILVER – Greece 40 faults: Cleopatra Vl (Monika Martini) 4/0 Quetcha de Chenee (Grigoris Voglis) 12/16, Alerion 2 (Stelios Stavroulakis) 8/4, Cartago (Dimitri Natsis) 20/12; BRONZE – Bulgaria 45 faults: Mister Big (Ivaylo Bonev) 18/4, Farina (Vladimir Georgiev) 17/8, Colorado (Asparuh Atanasov) 22/14, Cartina 8 (Angel Niagolov) 0/8.

FEI Balkan Senior Individual Jumping Championship: GOLD – Chiara (Husnu Dinc) TUR 9.98; SILVER – Carina (Angel Niagolov) BUL 12.28; BRONZE – Valdos (Mert Alicioglu) TUR 20.00.

FEI Balkan Young Riders Individual Jumping Championship: GOLD – Abner (Yusuf Cem Kayacan) TUR; SILVER – Ching van Berkenbroeck (Kristian Valev) BUL; BRONZE – Clear (Irena Ilic) SRB.

FEI Balkan Junior Team Jumping Championship: GOLD – Greece 8 faults: Ascot 76 (Ioli Mytilineou) 0/4, Championess 10 (Stefania Cheinoporos) 0/4, LC Wiaikiki Akino (Anna-Maria Papageorgiou) 0/4, Oscar du Perron (Marina Theofanopoulo) 4/0; SILVER – Turkey 24 faults: Wervelwind 4 (Talya Afyoneri) 8/4, Axioma Ter Goes Z (Zeynep Aksoy) 8/4, Timberland (Elip Ozsahin) 0/9, Matcho (Buse Samli) 8/0; BRONZE – Romania 50 faults: Carnaval ll (Claudiu Floristean) 14/8, Ogica (Stefan Leonte) 8/16, Dona Doll (Corneliu paul Iionescu) 24/12, Duende (Cristian Ceausescu) 8/0.

FEI Balkan Junior Individual Jumping Championship: GOLD – Ascot 76 (Ioli Mytilineou) GRE; SILVER – Duende (Cristian Ceausescu) ROU; BRONZE – Oscar du Perron (Marina Theofanopoulou) GRE.

FEI Balkan Children’s Team Jumping Championship: GOLD – Turkey 0 faults: Village Born (Emre Eratici0 0/0, Zara (Ahmet Berk Basegmez) 4/16, Grandioos BZ (Necmi Eren) 0/0, Florentine 62 (Emir Kocak) 0/0; SILVER – Greece 4 faults 217.05 secs: Lili Marlen ll CH (Anna-Sophia Danalis) 4/0, Litium (Andreas Vardinogiannis) 0/8, Cobbydor (Paola Martini) 0/0, Quatuor des Bordes (Konstantinos-Evangelos Papathanassiou) 8/0; BRONZE – Croatia 4 faults 220.07 secs: Aidora l Ritz (Laura Dragicevic) 0/0, Castro (Filip Jadrijevic) 0/0, Filoudu Pichoux (Dunja Al Jamal) 12/8, Lavai (Nina Madirazza) 0/4.

FEI Balkan Children’s Individual Jumping Championship:  GOLD – Florentine 62 (Emir Kocak) TUR; SILVER – Ezop (Ventsislav Izov) BUL; BRONZE – Cobbydor (Paola Martini) GRE.

By Louise Parkes

Competitions, FEI, Show Jumping

Stage Set for Fabulous ECCO FEI European Jumping Championships in Herning

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Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, the first Swedish rider to win individual gold at the Europeans when victorious in 2011, will be back to defend his title at the ECCO FEI European Jumping Championships 2013 in Herning. (c) FEI/Kit Houghton.

Lausanne (SUI), 29 July 2013 – The countdown to the ECCO FEI European Jumping Championships 2013 has already begun and the start list will include a glittering array of stars. A total of 102 riders from 24 nations have been named for the event, which runs from 20-25 August at Herning in Denmark, with a massive 21 countries fielding teams. Medals at these Championships are hard-won and greatly cherished, as riders and their horses place their names on the distinguished Roll of Honour alongside legends of this popular sport.

It is now 56 years since the great Hans Gunther Winkler (GER) claimed the individual title at the inaugural Championships in Rotterdam (NED) back in 1957. That began a cycle that has continued ever since, with German riders dominating the medal podium and always the ones the others have to beat. They have claimed individual gold on 14 occasions, and when the team competition was first introduced at Munich (GER) in 1975 they firmly put their stamp on that too when Alwin Schockemöhle, Hartwig Steenken and Sönke Sönksen, who had already bagged all the individual medals, joined with Hendrik Snoek to also become the first team champions.

Defends Team Title

This time around Germany defends the team title won at Madrid (ESP) in 2011. And while Sweden’s first-ever individual champion, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, bids to repeat the success he enjoyed two years ago, the man who stood one step down from him on the medal podium that day will also be attracting a lot of attention. Because Carsten-Otto Nagel and Corradina have come so close to glory at the last two Championships, pipped narrowly by Frenchman, Kevin Staut, in 2009 at Windsor Park in London (GBR) and by Bengtsson in Spain two years later. Somehow it would seem only fair if, at last, the much-admired 15-year-old grey mare gets to wear the winner’s sash this summer.

Of course the British have a strong record at the Europeans, with six individual and four team titles to their credit, and their tails are up following their superb gold-medal-winning performance on home ground at the London 2012 Olympic Games. They travel to Herning with only two from that side, however, Scott Brash and Ben Maher, who will be joined by Robert Smith, William Funnell and Michael Whitaker.

The French took team silver last time around, and with Patrice Delaveau and Roger Yves Bost, who are both in flying form, joined by Staut, Eugenie Angot and Aymeric de Ponnat they look highly competitive. The Dutch were on target for gold in the early stages at Madrid, but had to settle for fourth in the final analysis, so they will be coming out with all guns blazing this year. And despite the marked absence of Gerco Schröder whose top horse, London, is unavailable for selection, Rob Ehrens’ choice of Jeroen Dubbeldam, Leon Thijssen, Willem Greve, Maikel van der Vleuten and Jur Vrieling looks rock solid. Greve put on an exhibition of great jumping with Carambole in the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping series in recent weeks to cement his well-earned place in the side.

Enjoying Retirement

Bengtsson, whose 2011 winning ride Ninja la Silla is now enjoying retirement, heads the Swedish line-up partnering Casall Ask. And his team-mates include Angelica Augustsson, Emma Emanuelsson, and Henrik Von Eckermann, along with Jens Fredricson who thrilled the home crowd at Falsterbo last weekend with an unforgettable Grand Prix victory partnering the tough and ever-reliable 15-year gelding Lunatic. Not many horse-and-rider combinations can better Germany’s Marcus Ehning on a good day, but Lunatic just never gives up and this pair have been long overdue a victory of this calibre.

The Swiss team boasts Olympic champion Steve Guerdat along with Paul Estermannn, Christina Liebherr, Pius Schwizer and Janika Sprunger. Following his tremendous achievement in London last summer, Guerdat just missed out on the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping title for the second year in a row at the series Final in Gothenburg, Sweden in April. So the attraction of adding European gold to his growing haul must seem all the more attractive and if his flying machine, Nino des Buissonnets, can be produced at the top of his form they will be a tough partnership to overcome in the heat of battle.

Spanish team manager Marco Fusté has chosen Manuel Fernandez Saro, Pilar Cordon, Julio Arias and Manuel Añon along with Sergio Alvarez Moya, the latter armed with Carlo, the horse ridden into bronze medal position in Madrid by Britain’s Nick Skelton two years ago.

And Ireland’s Robert Splaine sends a fresh-looking side that has selected itself through some great performances in recent months. Shane Breen and Balloon produced some spectacular jumping in Aachen (GER) last month, Cameron Hanley has made a dramatic return to the top end of the sport with Antello Z following a career-threatening two-year injury lay-off for the rider, and Conor Swail clinched his spot with victory riding Lansdowne at Spruce Meadows (CAN) last weekend. Solid back-up will be provided by Shane Sweetnam and Billy Twomey, and while this may be more of a team for the future than the present, they can be expected to give a good account of themselves.

Set to Return

Meanwhile, under their new manager Kurt Gravemeier, the Belgians look set to return to Europe Division 1 of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping next season and with Dirk Demeersman, Judy-Ann Melchior, father-and-son Ludo and Nicola Philippaerts and Jos Verlooy on call-up they will be determined to make an impression.

Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Ukraine also take up the challenge, but with Carsten-Otto Nagel joined by Christian Ahlmann who continues to hold the number one spot on the Longines Rankings, Daniel Deusser, Ludger Beerbaum and Philipp Weishaupt, there is little doubt that the German presence will be a powerful one.  When it comes to the FEI European Jumping Championships this is a country completely in its comfort zone, and such is the quality and depth of the German pool of riders that Chef d’Equipe Otto Becker can leave two of the sport’s most successful athletes, Marcus Ehning and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, on the bench and still present the most formidable challenge.

Just three individual riders have been named for these Championships: Athina Onassis de Miranda representing Greece, Radovan Sillo of Slovakia, and Omer Karaevli flying the Turkish flag. Lady riders competed in their own separate Championship until 1973 in Vienna (AUT) where Britain’s Ann Moore claimed gold, and just two female athletes have claimed the individual title since then. Alexandra Ledermann from France made history when she became the first woman to hold the trophy aloft at Hickstead in 1999 and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum followed suit eight years later on home soil in Mannheim (GER).

Competition Format

Germany’s Frank Rothenberger is course designer, and the Championships begin on Tuesday 20 August with a one-round Speed class at the end of which results are converted into points which count towards both individual and team scores. The first round of the Team Competition takes place the following afternoon and the top 10 teams go through to the second round on Thursday evening when the medals will be decided.

Racking up individual scores along the way, the Jumping horses then have a rest day on Friday 23 August before the top-25 go through to the Individual Final on Saturday afternoon when the new Individual winner will be crowned at the end of another two exciting rounds. And it will be a proud moment as their name is entered into the book of champions alongside so many of the greatest stars of the sport.

Facts and Figures:

The FEI European Jumping Championships 2013 will take place at Herning in Denmark from 20 to 25 August.

Riders from 24 nations will compete.

21 countries have entered teams: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine.

3 nations will be represented by a single rider: Greece, Slovakia, and Turkey.

A total of 102 riders are listed in the definite entries (29 July 2013).

Germany heads the individual gold medal winning table with 14 victories to date. British riders have been successful on six occasions and French riders have taken the individual title four times.

Germany also leads the team gold medal winning table with a total of seven titles since 1975. Next in line are Great Britain and Switzerland with four each followed by The Netherlands with three.

Only two women have ever won the FEI European Championship individual title since the Championships for Ladies and Men were first combined back in 1975 : Alexandra Ledermann (FRA) took gold in 1999 at Hickstead GBR and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER) followed suit in 2007 at Mannheim GER.

This will be the 32nd FEI European Jumping Championships – the first was held in Rotterdam (NED) in 1957.

The defending individual champion is Rolf-Göran Bengtsson – the first Swedish rider ever to clinch the coveted title.

Germany defended team gold when it won the 2011 Championships staged in Madrid, Spain.

The full list of entries for the FEI European Jumping Championships 2013 is available HERE.

By Louise Parkes

Media Contacts:

At FEI

Grania Willis
Director Press Relations
Email: grania.willis@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 142

Malina Gueorguiev
Manager Media Relations
Email: malina.gueorguiev@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 133

At Herning

Britt Carlsen
Press Officer
bc@wiegaarden.dk
+45 96 570 580

*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

Greeks Dominate on Home Turf in Athens

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The Turkish team of (L to R) Husnu Dinc, Cagri Basel, Hasan Senturk and Horasan Sencer celebrate their victory in the Senior Team event at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships. Photo: FEI/Alexis Vassilopoulos.

Athens (GRE), 11 September 2012 – Greek riders proved a formidable force at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships when claiming three individual and three team titles on their home turf in Athens over the weekend.  The 2012 fixture took place at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre, venue for the equestrian event of the 2004 Olympic Games, and 170 riders from eight countries lined out for the event.

The Hellenic Secretary General of Sports, Mrs Kyriki Giannakidou and First Vice-President of the Hellenic Federation Mr George Lenos attended the Opening Ceremony at which the Hellenic Navy Band led the parade of nations.  With five sets of team medals and five individual titles up for grabs it was a busy schedule over the four-day fixture.

Children’s Championships

There were four nations in contention in the Children’s team competition in which the fences stood at 1.10 metres. And when Leonida Palegdas (Cenlata) and Stefania Cheinoporos (Championess) jumped double-clear, then only one of the four faults collected in each round by Dimitra Antypa (Varien) and Alexandros Kokkonis (Oleis de Chenee) had to be taken into account to give them a final total of eight.

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Championships, Competitions, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2011 – Zagreb (CRO)

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BIG HAUL OF GOLD FOR THE GREEKS IN ZAGREB by Louise Parkes

Croatia's Kristina Grilec, Mirna Bacic and Janka Krasovec - gold, silver and bronze medallists in the Amazons (Ladies) Individual Championship at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2011. Photo: FEI/ BalkanJChPress.

Lausanne (SUI), 6 September 2011 – Greek riders were in flying form at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2011 staged in Zagreb, Croatia last weekend where they claimed eight of the 10 titles on offer.  Gold in the Ladies Individual and Team events were the only medals to escape their grasp as they ran riot through the remainder of the show programme, producing convincing wins at all levels.

Staged at the Karoca Horse Club in the Croatian capital city, the event attracted competitors from six nations – Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece.  President of the Ground Jury was Russia’s Vladimir Platov and the remainder of the Ground Jury panel were Mrs Mimi Kyrkinis from Greece, Turkey’s Mrs Gulfer Taneri, Bulgaria’s Mr Yuri Valev and Mrs Jasminka Pirs Petrakovic from Croatia.

SENIORS
In the Senior Team Championships, the Greeks clinched gold with a total of 22 faults which give them a significant 14-fault advantage over the silver medallists from Slovenia.  The Croatians took bronze, but with 55 faults on the board were a long way further adrift and 10 points clear of the Bulgarians who just missed out on the medals here.

Course designer, Olaf Petersen Jr., set a 1.30m track for the opening competition in which Alexandros Fourlis and his 12 year old bay mare GZS Cappucino Z, by Calvaro Z, raced home quickest in a time of 61.39 seconds.  From a start-list of 22 runners, it was Croatia’s Denis Gugic (Davita) and Filip Rozmaric (Cezar BB) who slotted into the next two places while Hanna Roberson-Mytilinaiou (Natacha Delaunay) from Greece was close behind in fourth spot.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, FEI, Show Jumping

FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2010

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Bulgaria's Ivelin Valev (Equita) won the Senior title at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Photo: Milena Dragisic

BIG HAUL OF GOLD FOR TURKEY AND GREECE, BUT VALEV WINS SENIOR TITLE FOR BULGARIA
Historic result for Croatia

8 September – Turkey and Greece divided the majority of the gold medals between them at the 2010 FEI Balkan Jumping Championships staged at the Voivodinovo Equestrian Centre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria where the host nation’s Ivelin Valev claimed the Senior Individual title.

Underlining the increasing development of the sport in this region, the 36th Balkan Championship attracted a bigger entry than ever before with 139 riders from six nations, including Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia and Croatia.  And it was an historic moment for the Croation athletes, as they marked their debut in these Championships by securing their nation’s first-ever medals in equestrian sport, including individual gold in the Ladies division and team bronze and individual silver in the Children’s section.

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