Seventh place finish for Irish in Windsor
Friday, 28 August 2009A tension-filled two rounds the Irish team finished in seventh place of 17 teams at the European Show Jumping Championships in Windsor on Friday afternoon.
Lying in seventh at the halfway mark, a clear round from Sligo-born Darragh Kerins and Night Train and two four-fault rounds from Cameron Hanley with SIEC Livello and Cian O'Connor and Rancorrado held the Irish position against stiff opposition on a very strong course that saw only six zero scores achieved by the ten teams who went through to the final round.
Afterwards Irish team manager Robert Splaine said: 'This was a
fantastic performance from a team that had to be changed several times from my original selection, due to various reasons. It was heartbreaking for the lads to come so close to a medal in a
championship such as this after so much effort.
'But I think the result today is proof that we have the rider and
horse combinations with the potential of achieving gold. It's vital
that we do everything in our power to to keep those combinations intact for the World Equestrian Games at Kentucky next year and the Olympics in 2012 for I do believe we have a real chance at championship success.'
Switzerland took the Gold Medal at Windsor today, with Italy taking silver and Germany claiming bronze.
