Who leads the SEA World Cup League?
Monday, September 26th, 2005
by Peter Ibrahim Abisheganaden. File pics by Natasha Mustapha are copyright of Equestrian.Com.MyThe South East Asian World Cup League moves to the Royal Selangor Horse Show at the Royal Selangor Polo Club next weekend for the final qualifier to be held in Malaysia this season. At stake is a place in next year’s FEI World Cup Final which is to be held in Kuala Lumpur at the Putra Stadium from 26th to 30th April 2006.
Officially only the top placed rider gets a place in the FEI World Cup Final. With the chance to ride in an historic World Cup Final in Kuala Lumpur, and with national pride at stake, all the top South East Asian League riders want that automatic place.
However, the FEI has confirmed that the three Hong Kong riders that are old enough, Charlotte Morse, Kenneth Cheng, Jennifer Chang, ride as “extras” in the South East Asian World Cup League.
That means, like Helena Gabrielsson who is also a qualifed “extra”, they will not take away the rightful place from a South East Asian National if one of them should win.
With the Points Puzzle seemingly resolved with AM5 points allocated, we have a clearer picture of the league standings.
Who is in front? Here’s the table as put out after the last show:
| Rank | Rider | Country | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | Final | Total |
| 1 | Qabil Ambak | MAS | 16 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 12 | 65 | ||
| 2 | Helena Gabrielsson | THA | 11 | 4 | 18 | 9 | 20 | 62 | ||
| 3 | Charlotte Morse | HKG | 9 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 15 | 48 | ||
| 4 | Kenneth Cheng | HKG | 6 | 3 | 15 | - | 13 | 37 | ||
| 5 | Lea Tan | MAS | 13 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 36 | ||
| 6 | Marie-Antoinette Leviste | PHI | - | 15 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 34 | ||
| 7 | Jennifer Chang | HKG | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 32 | ||
| 8 | Quzier Ambak | MAS | 8 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 28 | ||
| 9 | Juan Ramon S Lanza | PHI | - | - | 8 | - | 17 | 25 | ||
| 10 | Chris Ladbrook | NZL | 7 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 21 | ||
| 11 | Varat Ngowabunpat | THA | - | - | - | 8 | 9 | 17 | ||
| 12 | Joker Arroyo | PHI | - | 6 | 5 | - | - | 11 | ||
| 13 | Syed Zain | MAS | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | - | 10 | ||
| 14 | Sira Konglapamnuay | THA | - | - | - | - | 10 | 10 | ||
| 15 | Syed Mohsin | MAS | - | - | - | - | 8 | 8 | ||
| 16 | Dhewin Mananthanya | THA | - | - | - | - | 7 | 7 | ||
| 17 | Pongsiree Bunluewong | THA | 0 | - | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 18 | Phisit Jintanawat | THA | - | - | - | - | 3 | 3 | ||
| 19 | Sunetr Burakasikorn | THA | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Andika Baharuddin | MAS | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | ||
| 21 | Nagone Kamolsiri | THA | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 22 | Chano Boonpongsa | THA | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 |
If you look at the points standing after 5 rounds (#1, Malaysian Open, Merdeka Masters, Premier Cup and National Horse Show), it looks like Qabil Ambak has a 3 point lead over Helena Gabrielsson, with Charlotte Morse of Hong Kong out of touch of the top two on 48 points. That’s correct if you add up all the points of the first five qualifiers.
But is it accurate?
The formula for this year’s league is to take the best four results of the seven scheduled SEA World Cup qualifiers.
If you add up each rider’s top four results, dropping the other scores, it’s quite a different picture. Take a look at this table which we have done to show the best 4 scores.
| Rank | Rider | Country | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | Final | Total |
| 1 | Helena Gabrielsson * | SWE | 11 | 4 | 18 | 9 | 20 | 58 | ||
| 2 | Qabil Ambak | MAS | 16 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 12 | 56 | ||
| 3 | Charlotte Morse * | HKG | 9 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 15 | 45 | ||
| 4 | Kenneth Cheng * | HKG | 6 | 3 | 15 | - | 13 | 37 | ||
| 5 | Lea Tan | MAS | 13 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 35 | ||
| 6 | Marie-Antoinette Leviste | PHI | - | 15 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 34 | ||
| 7 | Jennifer Chang * | HKG | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 32 | ||
| 8 | Quzier Ambak | MAS | 8 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 26 | ||
| 9 | Juan Ramon S Lanza | PHI | - | - | 8 | - | 17 | 25 | ||
| 10 | Christopher Ladbrook * | NZL | 7 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 21 | ||
| 11 | Varat Ngowabunpat | THA | - | - | - | 8 | 9 | 17 | ||
| 12 | Joker Arroyo | PHI | - | 6 | 5 | - | - | 11 | ||
| 13 | Syed Zain | MAS | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | - | 10 | ||
| 13 | Sirra Konglapamnuay | THA | - | - | - | - | 10 | 10 | ||
| 15 | Syed Mohsin | MAS | - | - | - | - | 8 | 8 | ||
| 16 | Dhewin Manathanya | THA | - | - | - | - | 7 | 7 | ||
| 17 | Pongsiree Bunluewong | THA | 0 | - | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 18 | Phisit Jintanawat | THA | - | - | - | - | 3 | 3 | ||
| 19 | Sunetr Burakasikorn | THA | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Andika Baharuddin | INA | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | ||
| 19 | Nagone Kamolsiri | THA | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Chano Boonpongsa | THA | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | ||
| 22 | Starters | 12 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 19 |
If we consider just the best four qualifiers, now Helena Gabrielsson leads Qabil by 2 points, with Charlotte Morse just 13 points behind the leaders. Everyone still has two more chances to improve on their points scores – at the Royal Selangor Horse Show this Sunday and at the Manila SEA League Final on 20 November. With the League Final in Manila possibly yielding 150% of normal points, there is still everything to play for. I say "possibly yielding 150% of normal points" because it was not asked for at the start of the SEA World Cup League season, and as far as I know, the FEI has yet to agree.
As the course designer for next Sunday’s World Cup qualifier #6 at RSPC, I intend to make the track long and open. I shall be using an arena of the same size that riders will get in Manila for the Final and the SEA Games – 105 m x 75 m. We’ll be using a time allowed calculated using a speed of 375 meters per minute. It means that there will be no time to dawdle on course. Nor will there be any give away fences this time. On the field, if the going remains good, we can usually get up to full height, and more.
Good luck to all the SEA World Cup League riders and all competitors at the Royal Selangor Horse Show.
Related Links:
NHS World Cup for Helena Gabrielsson
Royal Selangor Horse Show to include World Cup
Qabil extends World Cup lead
Helena Masters Merdeka
Toni Leviste wins Malaysian Open
Qabil comes back in style
SEA World Cup Points Puzzle
Michelle Barrera qualifies for WEG
Michelle Barrera wins Gold Coast World Cup
News Links:
NST: Worst outing puts Qabil in eighth
