Falsterbo (SWE), 12 July 2012 – The host nation will be feeling the heat as the sixth leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012 gets underway on home soil in Falsterbo, Sweden tomorrow afternoon.  Drawn second-last to go, Sweden also lies seventh of the eight competing nations on the series leaderboard, sharing the same score as the bottom-placed Irish whose aggregate score has them at a slight disadvantage.  For both sides, tomorrow is a crunch clash as they attempt to pull themselves off the wrong end of the league table with only two further legs of the series remaining after tomorrow’s competition.

And today’s draw was not kind to the Irish who will be first into the ring at 14.30 local time.

The order-of-go is as follows:  1, Ireland; 2, Germany; 3, Great Britain; 4, Switzerland; 5, Netherlands; 6, France; 7, Sweden; 8, Belgium.

HANDSOME LEAD

Germany holds a handsome lead in the series after a double of wins, at Rome (ITA) in May and Rotterdam (NED) in June, and consistently good placings including runner-up spot in Aachen (GER) last week where the French came out on top.

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Aachen (GER), 4 July 2012 – The Swedish team will be pathfinders around Frank Rothenberger’s daunting course as the fifth leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012 gets underway at the prestigious Soers Arena in Aachen, Germany tomorrow night.

The draw took place this afternoon, and the order-of-go is as follows:  1, Sweden; 2, Switzerland; 3, Germany; 4, France; 5, Belgium; 6, Netherlands; 7, Great Britain; 8, Ireland.

With mounting tension ahead of the London Olympic Games which are now only a few short weeks away, some team managers will be fine-tuning their Olympic decision-making over the next few days, so there is little room for error on the part of riders.

And as the 2012 series moves past the halfway stage, the countries lying at the bottom of the league table are acutely aware of the need for improvement.

KEEN

Ireland is lying last, in eighth place, so Chef d’Equipe, Robert Splaine, is keen to register a good result this time out.  “We were quite good here last year, but we could do with a good score at this stage as we haven’t excelled ourselves so far in this year’s series!” he said.

Continue reading Sweden to Show the Way at Aachen →

Rotterdam (NED), 21 June 2012 – The Swiss team will be first to test the track set by Louis Konickx when the fourth leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012 gets underway at the Kralingsbos in Rotterdam, The Netherlands tomorrow afternoon.  The Dutch course designer is recognised for his innovation and style, and the eight competing nations can expect a strong challenge as the eight-leg series moves to the halfway stage.

The order-of-go for the competition which begins at 16.00 local time is as follows:

1, Switzerland; 2, The Netherlands; 3, France; 4, Great Britain; 5, Germany; 6, Belgium; 7, Sweden; 8, Ireland.

The British hold the record for most wins in the Dutch Nations Cup – 14 in total since it was first held in 1948.  But the Germans are close behind, with 13 victories including their latest success in 2011, and they could well draw level with the British tomorrow afternoon.

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St Gallen (SUI), 31 May 2012 – The luck of the Irish may be about to change as they have the advantage of being drawn last to go in tomorrow’s third leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012 at St Gallen, Switzerland.  Their last-place finish in Rome (ITA) a week ago has plunged them to the bottom of the series leaderboard, but Chef d’Equipe, Robert Splaine, will be hoping to do something about that when tomorrow’s competition gets underway.

The order of go is as follows:  1, The Netherlands; 2, Germany; 3, Switzerland; 4, Belgium; 5, France; 6, Great Britain; 7, Sweden; 8, Ireland.

The team managers will select their sides later today after the warm-up competition.  There is a new format for CSIO St Gallen this year, with the show running over three days instead of four, and of course the centre-piece of tomorrow’s first-day action will be the FEI Nations Cup.  The records show that, since it was first staged in Lucerne in 1927, Germany has won the Swiss Nations Cup more times than any other country – on 20 occasions over the last 85 years.

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS

It is the Dutch, however, who return as defending champions, having won at St Gallen in 2011.  And they will be first into the ring tomorrow, after Rob Ehrens has selected his side from Gert-Jan Bruggink, Jeroen Dubbeldam, Marc Houtzager, Gerco Schroder and Leon Thijssen.  Schroder and Houtzager both competed in Rome (ITA) last Friday where the team finished equal sixth with Great Britain.

Continue reading Irish Get Best of the Draw at St Gallen →