Germany Triumphs in Aachen Thriller.....

Germany secured a back-to-back double of wins in the 2008 Samsung Super League with FEI series when coming out on top in a tough battle in Aachen tonight.

Fresh from their triumph in Rotterdam two weeks ago the home team was highly impressive in the opening round, but as the second half evolved it seemed very possible that they could be forced into a jump-off with the eventual runners-up from The Netherlands as the game of cat-and-mouse that is regularly played between these two sides in recent times looks set to continue.

The USA and Great Britain shared third while Sweden at last had some better luck and finished fifth ahead of the Irish in sixth. However an indication of just how tough the night had been was evidenced by the decision of both Switzerland and Belgium to call it a day after their third rider had entered the ring for a second time. The Swiss at least managed a completion score but the Belgians did not when anchorman Jos Lansink did not start after Dirk Demeersman retired in both rounds.

THE TRACK.....

A bold jumping test was set by course designer Frank Rothenberger, with the two most difficult questions coming at the combination at fence four and the double at fence 10. The latter was preceded by an oxer with a plank as the front bar and this regularly hit the floor, but it was the unusual pairing of a triple bar and a vertical that took many horses by surprise as both elements of the double claimed multiple victims.

America's Beezie Madden described the course as "big - and a bit technical" and she said that there was a difficult distance from the oxer at nine to the tricky double "which was very tight inside". Germany's Ludger Beerbaum said the track was "serious enough and big enough - and somehow it seemed more difficult in the second round - there were a lot more fences down".

GREAT START......

The Germans looked to be in cruise mode at the halfway stage as they carried just two faults - the single time penalties collected by Ludger Beerbaum (All Inclusive NRW) and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Shutterfly) added to Christian Ahlmann's opening clear with Coster so that Marco Kutscher's double-error with Montender could be discarded.

The USA was lying second at the halfway point, carrying only five when McLain Ward's clear with Sapphire ensured that only Anne Kursinki's single time fault with Champ and Beezie Madden's four faults with Authentic needed to be taken into account as Laura Kraut's five with Cedric were dropped.

The Irish and Dutch were on level pegging with 12 faults each - Ireland boosted by Edward Doyle's opening clear with the hard-working Sequoyah Farms Utopia who has lined out in every leg of the current series to date, and The Netherlands benefitting from the return of the newly-energised Oki Doki who bounced around for fun for Albert Zoer. In fact only Doyle, Zoer, Ahlmann and Ward could find the key to a clear first round.

Great Britain lay fifth with 15 on the board while Sweden carried 16, Belgium carried 19 and Switzerland were already floundering with 31 faults. Belgian chances were severely hampered by Dirk Demeersman's retirement after Tymoon Caloo Meerchen stopped at the combination while the Swiss effort got off to the worst possible start when pathfinders Pius Schwizer and Nobless were eliminated at the open water at fence seven.

MORE TROUBLE....

As the second round got underway Swiss fortunes failed to improve with Schwizer collecting 16 faults at his second attempt, and although Niklaus Schurtenberger and Cantus improved from a nine-fault opening effort to pick up just a single second-round time penalty and Steve Guerdat added just one for time to his first-round 16 faults with Jalisca Solier, anchorman Beat Mandli, who had left just one fence down in the previous round, declined to run again. This left them adding another 18 to their tally to complete with 49 on the board.

The Belgian blues continued when Demeersman decided to retire before the water jump, and when Lansink did not return to the ring they failed to register a final score even though they might have finished ahead of the Irish if Lansink had managed a clear.

The Irish were struggling - Doyle's mare losing her jump in the second round to collect 20 and Capt David O'Brien (Mo Chroi) and Cian O'Connor (Irish Independent Echo Beach) adding nine and eight more respectively. Plummeting rapidly down the leaderboard it was left to the last Irishman in, Denis Lynch to stem the decline with a great clear from Lantinus, but he had the crowd gripping their seats with his wild run to the open water where Lantinus stood off by a long distance and, clearing it, still managed to tackle the following vertical without incident. The final Irish tally of 29 left them trailing the Swedes who were bolstered by a much better round from Helena Lundback and Bukowskis Erbblume who followed their 13-fault first round with just one second-round mistake, and when Royne Zetterman and Isaac added just one time fault and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and Quintero La Silla picked up six they could drop Henrik Von Eckermann's nine faults with Enorm to finish on a score of 27.

A clear from Nick Skelton and Arko put the British in the right frame of mind as they set off in round two, and with just one time fault from Tim Stockdale and Fresh Direct Corlato and five from John Whitaker and Peppermill who got his feet wet at the water they registered a final tally of 21.

THE REAL BATTLE....

The real battle was played out by the Dutch and Germans as the Americans began to lose their foothold. Double-errors from Ward and Kraut and a nine-fault result for Kursinski left the US vulnerable, and only Madden's second round clear with Authentic prevented an even more dramatic deterioration as they anchored their total on 21.

The German vice-grip was loosened when Coster collected four and Kutscher's Montender went in the water and hit the planks oxer, but Ludger Beerbaum pulled it back with a careful clear of the fences that earned him just two time penalties. Without Meredith entering the ring the German score now stood at 16 faults - so would she be needed to save the day?

Angelique Hoorn (Blauwendraad's O'Brien) and Vincent Voorn (Audi's Alpapillon-Armanie) both lowered a single fence, but when Zoer and Oki Doki came out to give yet another exhibition of cheeky jumping and to produce the only double-clear of the entire competition then it seemed that a fault-free round from anchorman Gerco Schroder (Eurocommerce Berlin) might force a jump-off with the host team. It wasn't to be however as the stallion fell victim to the first element of the bogey double and also collected a time fault to leave the Dutch total at 20. There was no need for Meredith to re-enter the ring for anything other than the prize-giving.

NO DISGRACE....
"It wasn't a shame to be second to the Germans tonight - they were so good, but I reckon next time it will be Holland's turn to win!" said Dutch Chef d'Equipe Rob Ehrens afterwards.

Olympic selection was on everyone's lips, but the team managers were keeping their information to themselves - all except Ireland's Robert Splaine that is, who announced Denis Lynch as Ireland's sole Olympic show jumping representative after yet another great evening for the 32 year old Irishman.

German Chef d'Equipe, Kurt Gravemeier, said he will make his decision after the Grand Prix at Aachen on Sunday next, but he has had plenty of reassurance about some of his squad. Ludger Beerbaum's All Inclusive NRW first sprang into the spotlight during the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping series in Geneva last December and the nine year old horse seems to be growing in confidence at every outing. "It was his first time in such a big ring and with such a big crowd" Ludger said tonight. "I was worried that it might upset him but after tonight I have a lot of confidence in him" he added after All Inclusive made little of the noise coming from the stadium which was packed with 37,000 screaming spectators.

Christian Ahlmann said he really felt the time pressure in the second round and that he felt he lost concentration and had a fence down as a result, while Marco Kutscher said he was disappointed to have the drop score, with eight in both rounds, but he felt very lucky to be part of such a great team. Meredith spoke about the dilemma of wondering whether or not she was going to have to jump a second time. "Its easy to lose your concentration at a time like that, but I warmed up in the usual way - I didn't try to make a calculation - and I knew I didn't have to go in at the end when I saw the rest of the team running towards me!" she said.

At the end of a great night's jumping Germany has swopped places with The Netherlands and now stands at the head of the 2008 Samsung Super League with FEI leaderboard going into the sixth of the eight rounds at Hickstead in three weeks time. The Olympic year has ensured the best of competition so far this season, and with three rounds remaining there is plenty more good sport to come......

RESULT:

1. GERMANY 16 flts: Coster (Christian Ahlmann) 0/4, Montender (Marco Kutscher) 8/8, All Inclusive NRW (Ludger Beerbaum) 1/2, Shutterfly (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) 1/DNS.
2. THE NETHERLANDS 20 flts: Blauwendraad's O'Brien (Angelique Hoorn) 4/4, Audi's Alpapillon-Armanie (Vincent Voorn) 8/4, Oki Doki (Albert Zoer) 0/0, Eurocommerce Berlin (Gerco Schroder) 9/5.
Equal 3. USA 21 flts: Sapphire (McLain Ward) 0/8, Champ (Anne Kursinski) 1/9, Cedric (Laura Kraut) 5/8, Authentic (Beezie Madden) 4/0.
Equal 3, GREAT BRITAIN 21 flts: Arko (Nick Skelton) 9/0, Murkas Rubert R (Peter Charles) 13/6, Fresh Direct Corlato (Tim Stockdale) 1/1, Peppermill (John Whitaker) 5/5.
5. SWEDEN 27 flts: Bukowskis Erbblume (Helena Lundback) 13/4, Isaac (Royne Zetterman) 5/1, Enorm (Henrik Von Eckermann) 6/9, Quintero la Silla (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) 5/6.
6. IRELAND 29 flts: Sequoyah Farms Utopia (Edward Doyle) 0/20, Mo Chroi (Capt David O'Brien) 8/9, Irish Independent Echo Beach (Cian O'Connor) 8/8, Lantinus (Denis Lynch) 4/0.
7. SWITZERLAND 49 flts: Nobless M (Pius Schwizer) Elim/16, Cantus (Niklaus Schurtenberger) 9/1, Jalisca Solier (Steve Guerdat) 16/1, Ideo du Thot (Beat Mandli) 6/DNS.
8. BELGIUM Ret: Vigo D'Arsouilles (Philippe Le Jeune) 10/5, Cavalor's Winningmood (Ludo Philippaerts) 4/4, tymoon Caloo Meerchen (Dirk Demeersman) Ret/Ret, Valentina van't Heike (Jos Lansink) 5/DNS.

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2008 - LEADERBOARD AFTER FIFTH LEG IN AACHEN:

1. GERMANY - 32
2. NETHERLANDS - 30.5
3. GREAT BRITAIN- 23.50
4. USA - 21.33
5. BELGIUM - 19.50
6. SWITZERLAND- 16.08
7. IRELAND - 13.83
8. SWEDEN - 5.75

For further information on the Samsung Super League with FEI in Aachen check out WEBSITE www.chioaachen.de. Show President at the German fixture is Klaus Peter Pavel, Show Director is Frank Kemperman and Press Officer is Niels Knippertz - Email niels.knippertz@chioaachen.de.

The sixth leg of the series takes place in Hickstead, Great Britain on Friday 25 July. Show President is Douglas Bunn, Show Director is Edward Bunn, Show Secretary is Elizabeth Bunn and Press Officer is Peter Jeffery - contact email jeffery.communications@btopenworld.com

Photo: Ludger Beerbaum aboard nine-year old All Inclusive NRW on their way to victory in the fifth leg of the Samsung Super League in Aachen. Photo by Kim Houghton