Photos: Stefano Grasso / GCL
It was another phenomenal round of
intense action with the competition down to the wire in
Shanghai as the Global Champions League made its fourth stop
on the 2016 Championship. 25 year old Andreas Kreuzer (GER)
teamed up with 27 year old David Will (GER) for the first
time to represent the Cascais Charms and the pair delivered
a flawless performance over the two round class to take a
magnificent win. It was Andreas’ debut on the League, and
speaking about the unique opportunity to compete on this
level, Andreas said: “It’s an unbelievable experience for
all of us. It’s a totally different feeling to ride in this
type of competition."
Olivier Philippaerts (U25) for the Paris Jets, a team
sponsored by the dynamic membership-based private aviation
company Wheels Up, helped raise the team up to third with an
impressive double clear and speedy second round time.
Experienced team mate and World Number 6, Gregory Wathelet
(BEL), who has ridden in every competition so far, spoke of
the exciting action the League delivered, saying “it was
[down] to the last rider at the last jump - there was
pressure on him - for the public it is really good to
follow. It’s what the public wants and that’s the good thing
about the League.”
The overall championship is still wide open and despite a
strong lead by new ranking leaders Valkenswaard United, the
competitions so far have shown how quickly the order can
change, adding to the excitement and drama of the new
series.
Earlier today World Number 3 Scott Brash (GBR) featured in
the live GCL TV studio, and spoke about the huge support for
the Global Champions League and what a difference the new
concept has done for the sport: “It’s important the sport
doesn’t stand still. [Jan Tops] has always got new ideas,
new concepts, and that’s great for us riders here. It’s
great for the audience, it’s great for the public and it’s
great to be a part of - I hope he keeps bringing up these
new ideas!”
Monaco Aces Schuyler Riley (USA) joined Scott in the studio
and agreed: “[Global Champions League] is the future of the
sport. It makes it more exciting, it makes it more appealing
for people to get involved and get behind, for sponsors to
get behind. There’s more exposure - it’s a lot more fun and
exciting; for the riders, the sponsors and the spectators."
And exciting it was as the Global Champions League of
Shanghai kicked off, with this unique location the backdrop
to the action. The sport of show jumping has grown
impressively in China since the LGCT arrived three years
ago, with the number of equestrian clubs growing from 300 to
over 800 in the region. Four Chinese riders took part in the
event in Shanghai this year and more are expected to compete
in the future as the sport continues to grow year on year.
11 Global Champions League teams lined up for the Asian leg
of the Championship, with Antwerp Diamonds looking to defend
their Ranking lead of two points over Valkenswaard United
and Monaco Aces.
The first round course put forward enough challenges to test
many of the best in the sport, with a few caught out by the
tricky combination element. As always, the combined faults
of the team riders would determine their place after the
first round with the top eight going through to round two.
Doha Fursan Qatar put in a strong opening performance, with
Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani with Anyway II and Faleh
Suwead Al Ajami with Come Soon both clear after round one.
Joining them were Monaco Aces’ duo of Maikel van der Vleuten
with VDL Groep Quatro and Leopold van Asten with VDL Groep C
Tara Z, who looked on fine form as the competition unfolded.
Andreas Kreuzer of Cascais Charms put in a faultless
performance with Zerafina and team mate David Will did not
disappoint despite the pressure with his horse Monodie H,
meaning they too would progress through with a score of
zero.
Enthusiastic crowds cheered the riders over every fence, as
the teams put on a fantastic display for the watching
public. The brightly coloured team shirts made it easy for
spectators to follow, with many local fans waving Shanghai
Swans flags in support of their home team. Around the world,
the pressure was on as team mates of those competing watched
via the GCL TV live streaming.
Eight teams went through to round two, with Antwerp
Diamonds, Vienna Eagles and Miami Glory relegated from the
next stage of the competition. Roosje Brouwer with van
Helsing of Cannes Stars had jumped clear in round one,
however picked up an unlucky four faults to add to the one
time fault from team mate Marco Kutscher’s earlier round.
The Paris Jets carried through four faults, but a blindingly
quick clear round from both Gregory with Eldorado van het
Vijverhof and Olivier with H&M Henna de Goedereede meant
they finished on a combined time of 142.66s. The Monaco Aces
matched their fault score, but were slower on combined time,
finishing in 145.11s and fourth overall.
The home team Shanghai Swans, who fielded two U25 riders of
Jessica Springsteen and Alexandra Thornton each rode a
beautiful second round - both clear and with just one time
fault for Alexandra. This was added to the 9 faults they
carried through, raising them back up to 7th overall.
David Will (GER) of Cascais Charms was the final rider of
the day with his grey horse Monodie H. With the team
completely clear so far, David went for a slow and careful
round, knowing that one fence would drop them far down in
the order and off the podium positions. As the crowd - and
team mate Andreas - watched on completely spell-bound, David
and Monodie H rode a beautiful round, clear and picking up
just two time faults to put them on the top of the
scoreboard.
The Global Champions League now heads back to Europe and
Hamburg where the next highly anticipated leg of the
championship will pick up pace. Valkenswaard United have
re-gained the ranking lead with 100 points in total, just
four points ahead of Monaco Aces who currently stand on 96.
Jan Tops, Co-Founder of the Global Champions League:
“The concept is fantastic - you can see the tension [grow]
to the last rider, even the last fence. It’s happened at the
last four events, and it’s something everyone wants -
tension to the last moment. I think every sport dreams of
having this. It’s also fantastic that the teams are very
diverse and different; everything is still possible, there’s
not one team who dominates and all have a chance to win.
Today it was fantastic that the Cascais Charms came back
from behind, and are now in 4th in the rankings. The public
understand, it’s easy to follow and [the Global Champions
League] is great.”
Mr. Jiang Lan, Vice President of Shanghai Jiushi (Group)
Co., Ltd. and CEO of Shanghai Juss Event Management: “I
am pleased and satisfied with the overall performance of
every single rider, and the excitement of the crowd. We’ve
seen the great success of the event in the past few years
and of course this year it is also a great success. This
year with the arrival of this new Global Champions League,
more people are enjoying this event. Personally, I believe
the good weather, the great atmosphere and the great
performance have been the success factors for this event.
I’m a supporter of the Shanghai Swans team of course, due to
the City of Shanghai - they didn’t win, but maybe next year
they can win the title here!”
Andreas Kreuzer, Cascais Charms, 1st place: “It’s an
unbelievable experience for all of us I think. It’s a
totally different feeling to ride in this type of
competition. I don’t know the last time I was that nervous
to see someone else ride - watching the second round was
just crazy, I couldn’t even watch any more! We are more than
happy to be part of [the new Global Champions League], we
are more than happy to have events ahead of us - we are
looking forward to it and we’re going to fight until the
end."
David Will, Cascais Charms, 1st place: “[Our strategy
to go slow and clear] was quite nerve racking. We talked
about it and agreed our tactics - we knew what was at stake.
Luckily it worked out. I was lucky, Andreas always did a
perfect first round, so I only had to follow up! This is the
good thing about this competition, it’s really really
exciting until the end, and until the last rider and last
fence, for the spectators and the people watching. For me, I
have no normal nerves now! For everyone else I think it was
good to watch.”
Eduardo Menezes, Valkenswaard United, 2nd place:
“It’s great. I think our sport was screaming for a change.
This Global Champions League is giving us the opportunity of
a completely new, exciting type of event and we are glad to
be able to ride with great riders such as John [Whitaker],
Bertram [Allen], Emily [Moffitt], Alberto and myself. We are
glad we keep up [the results for the team]. Alberto had two
amazing rounds, unfortunately I had one down in the first
round. It was great to watch to the end, knowing that if
[the Cascais Charms] had one down we would win. As Jan said,
there is emotion right to the end of the class.”
Olivier Philippaerts, Paris Jets, 3rd place: “It was
hard as the first three competitions didn’t go as well [for
the team], so we knew we had to try hard this time. I think
we did well, we’re in third place and our horses jumped
well. It was a good day today.”