Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.
SPONSORS
PARTNERS
ECM Blogs
Super Friday in St Gallen
Friday, May 30th, 2008
Swiss sports fans are in for a real treat tomorrow as the town of St Gallen
plays host to two spectacular sporting events.
First up is the third leg
of the 2008 Samsung Super League with FEI series in which the Belgian team has
been drawn first to go and then, as if there has not been enough excitement
already, the new soccer stadium built just across the highway will stage its
very first event with an international football match. National pride is at
fever-pitch, and the Swiss show jumping team will want to get the day off to the
right start with a good result that will improve their position on the Samsung
leaderboard.
At the Super League draw this afternoon the order-of-go was
decided as follows:
1. Belgium 2. Switzerland 3. Ireland 4.
Germany 5. Sweden 6. The Netherlands 7. Great Britain 8.
USA.
The Americans currently lead the standings but Great Britain follows
very close behind ahead of Belgium in third, Ireland in fourth, The Netherlands
in fifth and Switzerland in sixth. Surprisingly it is Germany that currently
lies second-last on the league table ahead of Sweden in eighth place and for
Swedish Chef d'Equipe, Maria Gretzer, it promises to be another tense
afternoon.
Wonderful summer weather conditions have welcomed the teams
and their supporters to the lovely Swiss town and Mr Kurt Hofman, Corporate
Marketing Manager of Samsung Electronics Zurich Branch, said he hoped it would
continue. After the relentless downpours in Rome just one week ago there were no
dissenting voices in that regard.
All but one of the team managers named
their sides for tomorrow's clash, Ireland's Robert Splaine declining to confirm
his complete selection until he had seen all of his riders compete except to say
that both Denis Lynch, who so sensationally won both the Grand Prix events in La
Baule and Rome over the past few weeks, and Niall Talbot who recently won the
Grand Prix in Copenhagen, would definitely be included.
Belgium's Lucien
Somers namds Philippe Lejeune, Patrick McEntee, Judy-Ann Melchior and Jos
Lansink - although Judy-Ann took a heavy fall from Aktion Pur-Z in a jump-off
class 30 minutes later.
Swiss Chef d'Equipe confirmed his choice of
Christina Liebherr, Niklaus Schurtenberger, Steve Guerdat and Pius Schwizer
while Germany's Kurt Gravemeier named Ludger Beerbaum, Carsten-Otto Nagel,
Christian Ahlmann and Marco Kutscher.
Maria Gretzer's side have had a
nightmarish start to their Samsung Super League with FEI season so she is hoping
that their luck begins to turn and she sends out Peter Eriksson, Linda Heed,
Helena Lundback and Lotta Schultz to do battle.
Rob Ehrens' Dutch team
includes Angelique Hoorn, Vincent Voorn, Piet Raijmakers and Gerco Schroder
while Great Britain's Derek Ricketts has selected Tim Stockdale, Ben Maher,
Peter Charles and John Whitaker.
Predictions for tomorrow mainly focused
on the Germans and Americans as winners, but Robert Splaine insisted that it is
the British who are looking strongest right now while American manager George
Morris said that this is one of the most open Super League seasons since the
series began. "Each week the competition is totally different and that is making
it really exciting" he pointed out, but he added "Kurt (Gravemeier) is sending
out his big guns now so we all better watch out!"
Tomorrow's US team
again consists of Ann Kursinksi, Will Simpson, Nicole Shaninian-Simpson and
Charlie Jayne - "and we have a lot of really good German horses too" George
said, nudging Mr Gravemeier. Mr Morris is particularly delighted with just how
competitive Jayne has been since he has come to Europe for the Samsung Super
League with FEI tour. "Charlie comes from Chicago and he's a real professional -
he's been riding in Grand Prix classes since he was 10 years old and he's a very
special rider" he pointed out.
There was a bit of banter between the
German and Swiss team managers - Rolf Grass saying just how pleased he was
feeling that although the Swiss are lying well-down the league table the Germans
are behind them - and there is a great sense of Swiss determination about the
showgrounds this afternoon.
That may well have something to do with the
fact that the Swiss national soccer team - which includes big names like Alex
Frei who plays for Dortmund, Lazio player Valon Behrami, Arsenal's Philippe
Senderas and goalkeeper Diego Benaglio from Wolfsburg - will be playing a
friendly international with Lichtenstein tomorrow night at the shiny new AFG
Arena in the lead-up to the opening round of the European Championship which
kicks off in eight days time.
The new stadium is sold out for the big
occasion but the tension over there will not be any greater than it will be
across the road in the lovely Grundenmoos grass arena during the third leg of
the Samsung Super League with FEI.....
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI
2008 - LEADERBOARD AFTER SECOND LEG IN ROME:
1. USA - 12.33 2. Great
Britain - 12.0 2. Belgium - 12.0 4. Ireland - 8.83 5. The Netherlands-
6.5 6. Switzerland - 6.08 7. Germany - 6.0 8. Sweden - 1.25
For
information on the Samsung Super League with FEI at St Gallen, Switzerland on
Friday 30 May check out WEBSITE www.csio.ch. Show President is Peter Stoessel,
Show Director is Urs Schiendorfer, Show Secretary is Silvia Gonzalez and Press
Officer is Peter Wyrsch - Email peter.wyrsch@sportinformation.ch.
The
fourth leg of the series takes place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on Friday 20
June. Show President is Frans Lavooy, Show Director is Emile Hendrix, Show
Secretary is Joyce Lebon and Press Officer is Anita Lussenburg - Email
anita.lussenburg@ingram.nl. WEBSITE www.chio.nl
FEI TELEVISION -
BROADCAST INFORMATION - ROUND TWO IN ROME : Live/Delayed Live SF
(Switzerland) - Friday 30 May 14.00 RAI (Italy) - Friday 30 May - check local
listings Equidia (France) - Friday 30 May 18.00 TV4 (Sweden) - Friday 30
May 15.20
Highlights CNBC Asia - Saturday 14 June 15.00 CNBC Europe
- Saturday 14 June 17.00 ESPN Brazil - Check local listings ESPN Star -
Check local listings Eurosport (Europe) - Wednesday 4 June 21.55, Thursday 5
June 10.00 Eurosport (Asia) - Thursday 12 June 11.00 Finnish Sport TV -
Check local listings Fox Middle East - Friday 13 June 16.00, Sunday 15 June
16.00, Thursday 19 June 10.00 Setanta Sports (Ireland) - Saturday 7 June
20.00 SuperSport (Africa) - Thursday 19 June 19.00, Friday 20 June 06.00,
Saturday 21 June 09.00, Sunday 22 June 12.00, Monday 23 June 15.00, Tuesday
24 June 13.30, Thursday 26 June 02.00 Sport Plus (France) - Monday 9 June
21.00 Sport TV (Portugal) - Check local listings TG4 (Ireland) - Check
local listings TVE (Spain) - Check local listings WCSN (USA) - Check local
listings
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL
PASSION!
SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI - 2008 CALENDAR OF
EVENTS:
Want to know
more? Check out the comprehensive MEDIA GUIDE for the series, available in print and for download at www.samsungsuperleague.com
under "Media Guide" heading.
The Samsung Super League with FEI
consists of the eight most prestigious horse shows at which the world's eight
best national teams compare their merit. The Samsung Super League with FEI is
connected to the FEI Nations Cup series through a promotion/relegation system at
the end of each season.
Samsung Electronics, one of the world's largest
electronics companies, is committed to supporting international sporting events,
thereby returning corporate profits to the public and working towards a more
harmonious and equitable society.
