Lausanne (SUI), 8 September 2011 – As predicted, Switzerland has qualified for the 2012 FEI Nations Cup series having secured the 2011 FEI European Promotional League title by a convincing margin.  Finishing the season with 60.5 points, the Swiss completed with an advantage of 6.5 points over the runners-up from Sweden, while Italy placed third ahead of Spain.

The Swiss and Swedes were the main protagonists in the closing stages of the battle for the single qualifying spot available to the Promotional League Champions, each looking strong when making guest appearances in the top-level FEI Nations Cup 2011 series on their home turf this summer.  At St Gallen in June, the Swiss finished equal-second alongside the first-division British, while at Falsterbo in July the Swedes divided runner-up spot with the defending series champions from France.

In the end, it was their success in the final leg of the Challengers Series that clinched it for the Swiss as they collected the maximum 16 points available at Bratislava in Slovakia which boosted their position as the best six scores from their outings in both the Promotional and Challengers Leagues were calculated.

STRONG SWISS FOURSOME
It was the strong Swiss foursome of Martin Fuchs (Principal), Janika Sprunger (Uptown Bo), Steve Guerdat (Nino des Buissonnets) and Hensueli Sprunger (Kepi de Valse) that lined out at the Slovakian fixture, but they only pipped the runners-up from The Ukraine by a single fault, while Austria slotted into third.  A total of 16 faults in the first round put paid to Swedish chances here, as only the best eight nations returned in round two.  At the previous leg of the Challengers League in Sopot, Poland the situation had been reversed when the Swiss failed to make the cut while the Swedes picked up points for third place.

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