PrintThe French, 2009 series champions and leaders throughout the 2010 season, will be pathfinders when the seventh leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series gets underway at Hickstead, Great Britain tomorrow afternoon.
The draw took place this afternoon, and the order-of-go for the penultimate leg of the 2010 series is as follows: 1, France: 2, USA; 3, Sweden; 4, Ireland; 5, Switzerland; 6, Great Britain; 7, Germany; 8, The Netherlands; 9, Spain.
John Roche, FEI Director Jumping, explained why the Polish team will not participate in the last two legs of the series. "I'd like to pay tribute to the great effort the Polish team have put into their campaign in the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ this season. They have enjoyed participating in the series and we have enjoyed watching them compete. However unfortunately they cannot put a team together for the last two legs, here at Hickstead and again in Dublin next week, because they don't have a sufficient number of horses. We are sorry to lose them - I believe we have all been filled with admiration for their sportsmanship and courage throughout this summer" he pointed out.
Pressure
The pressure is intense at this late stage of the eight-leg tournament, but the only concern the French may have is whether they can follow up their 2009 series victory by making it a double after next week's last leg in Ireland. US Chef d'Equipe said "it's always a great pleasure to return to Hickstead - its one of my favourite venues". The US team last won at the British venue in 2007, and he will be hoping for a good result tomorrow from his strong side which is currently holding second place on the league table. As always however, the nation really under the spotlight is the host country, although British Chef d'Equipe, Rob Hoekstra, rejected the suggestion that his veteran squad are feeling the heat.
"I've got three riders on my team that have won 10 Hickstead Derbies between them - they're not feeling the pressure at all, but I am!" he joked. New to the British team management role this season however, Mr Hoekstra has injected a new energy into his side which is currently lying fourth on the leaderboard. However as third-placed Chef d'Equipe, Ireland's Robert Splaine, said "nothing is assured yet". His team's chances of avoiding relegation to the Promotional League - the fate in store for the bottom-four teams at the end of the series - were significantly improved by the superbly executed Irish win at the last leg in Aachen two weeks ago. However he is still feeling cautious. "Yes, we've improved our position, but we are still not safe - there are five teams really under pressure and all these countries will be fighting for their show jumping lives tomorrow!" he said.
No Chance
