Another good team performance, an outstanding Philipp Weishaupt and a little bit of luck: The German team got an optimal starting position at the European Show Jumping Championships in Milan in the race for the first European Championship title.
The team around Aachen winner Marcus Ehning moved up to first place in the Nations Cup on Thursday thanks to late mistakes by world champion Sweden and has the best chance of winning the title in the second round of the top ten on Friday (from 1.30 p.m.).
Weishaupt with Zineday again without a throw
The 38-year-old Weishaupt and the only nine-year-old Westphalian gelding Zineday did not have a drop in the second competition either. The couple had started the second day of the tournament from third place and now jumped to second place in the individual ranking behind the previously perfect Swede Jens Fredricson.
Swedish mistakes use Becker team
The performance of the two also helped the German team immensely to improve their position. In front of the team of national coach Otto Becker, only the top favorite Sweden was down to the last rider, but Rolf-Göran Bengtsson made two mistakes that pushed Germany to the top.
The German champion Ehning (Borken), who rode with Stargold as the first rider in the changed German starting order, afforded another down. The perfect ride by Weishaupt (Riesenbeck) was followed by Jana Wargers (Emsdetten) and her Limbridge with a likewise flawless jump.
Gerrit Nieberg delivers again strike result
The two moved up to eleventh place, Ehning is in 22nd place. Subsequent Gerrit Nieberg (Sendenhorst) and Ben again delivered the discarded result after the unsuccessful start to the tournament.
After the Aachen winner of 2022 delivered the discard result with a total of four knockdowns on Wednesday, the duo tore three more rods on Thursday as the final couple and fell back to 67th place.
Christian Kukuk also flawless with Mumbai
Christian Kukuk (Riesenbeck) and Mumbai, who compete in the individual competition, also remained flawless. After another good performance, they are currently in ninth place. After missing out on a medal at the 2021 home European Championship, the 33-year-old is aiming to make amends.
“I’m here now to hopefully make it a little bit better in the end,” said Kukuk: “The beginning is done, but there are still a lot of laps to come.”
