EQUISTERIAN ISSUE 9

FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING
RIO OLYMPICS 2016
Japan pips South Africa by the
narrowest of margins
gone for each team, the leaderboard showed
Japan out in front on a total of 197.1 but the
South Africans were less than two points adrift
on 195.82.
There was huge pressure on the last competitor
from each side, and a great 68.420 from the
final South African partnership of Nicole Smith
and her 17-year-old mare, Victoria, really put it
up to Japanese anchorman Masanao Takahashi.
The 33-year-old has only been partnering
the experienced Fabriano for a few months now,
the 16-year-old stallion previously competing
at two European Championships, the London
2012 Olympic Games and the Alltech FEI World
Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy, France
with Austria’s Renate Voglsang on board. Takahashi,
who was a team bronze medallist at the
Asian Games in Doha, Qatar in 2006, produced
progressively good results with the horse at
Wiesbaden, Capelin and Verden this summer
however, and yesterday their 68.600 was good
enough to fill sixth place in the competition and
to swing the pendulum of good fortune in his
country’s direction by the tiniest of margins.
A sixth-place finish for Masanao Takahashi and Fabriano clinched a qualifying spot at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
for the Japanese team at yesterday’s special Olympic Dressage qualifying competition staged in Perl, Germany. (FEI/
Karl Heinz Freiler)
By Louise Parkes
There was joy and heartache in
equal measure at the special
Olympic qualifier staged
in Gestut Peterhof in Perl,
Germany last month where Japan pipped
South Africa by the narrowest of margins
for a coveted team slot at the Rio 2016
Olympic Games.
In a competition that swung in favour
of both sides at various stages, it seemed
the result could go either way. But in
the end Team Japan came out on top by
just 0.06 percentage points to clinch it.
There was some compensation for the
disappointed South Africans when Tanya
Seymour, who produced a lovely test to
finish fourth in the competition with
Ramoneur, earned her country one of the
two individual qualifying spots on offer,
the other going to Korea when Dongseon
Kim finished eighth with Bukowski.
A total of 34 athletes from 17 nations
lined out in the 2* Grand Prix competition
staged within the framework of the CDI4*
Dressage Gala at the charming German venue,
and 21 were chasing the Olympic qualifying
slots. There were only two countries in contention
for the single team berth - Japan and South
Africa - while competitors from Indonesia, Iran,
Kazakhstan, Korea, Morocco, Palestine, Philippines,
Singapore and Chinese Taipei also battled
it out for the individual qualifying places. This
special qualification event was open to competitors
from FEI Olympic Groups F and G and to
the FEI Olympic Group C countries Kazakhstan,
Kyrgystan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Good start
Kazuki Sado got the Japanese effort off
to a good start when posting 65.180 with the
11-year-old gelding Ziroco, and when Akane
Kuroki scored 66.280 with Don Luka and Shingo
Hayashi earned 65.640 with Ramses der II they
already had the edge.
The South Africans however were chasing
them hard, a big score of 68.880 from Tanya
Seymour and Ramoneur seriously boosting her
side’s chances when added to Denise Hallion’s
63.220 with Wervelwind, and Katherine Berning’s
63.180 with Brisbane. With three riders
Surprised but happy
Japanese Chef d’Equipe, Shinichi Terui, said
afterwards, “I was surprised today but very
happy we are going to Rio! The South Africans
were very strong, and their last rider was
particularly good, so in the end I think we are
lucky!” However he commended his team for
their great result. “All four riders did a very good
job today. They were under a lot of pressure, and
I’m really happy with how they coped with that”
he pointed out.
South African Chef d’Equipe, Jenny Neill,
said, “it was so tight with the marks, but I’m
very pleased with our performance, our team
has come so far and I am excited by how well
they did today and very happy that we have
qualified one individual for Rio. Hopefully we
might also get another individual qualified as
well. But while I’m very excited I’m also very
disappointed - in the end however, it is what it
is!” she added.
She said she wasn’t surprised that Tanya
Seymour had produced such a strong result to
finish fourth in the class that was, predictably,
dominated by German riders - Uta Graf taking
top spot with Lawrence followed by Stella Roth
in second with Rubin Action while Hendrik
Lochthowe finished third with Maggie’s US
Latin.
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The E.A. Equestrian ■ OCT-DEC-2015
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