Western European League 2014/2015 (show jumping)

The Western European League of the FEI World Cup Jumping 2014/2015 (Longines FEI World Cup ™ Jumping 2014-2015, Western European League) is the 37th season of the Western and Central European League of the FEI World Cup Jumping . The World Cup is the most important tournament series in the indoor season in the Western European League.

Course of the tournament series

With the 2014/2015 season, the Western European League grew again by two stations: On the one hand, the World Cup final does not take place in Europe, so that no Western European League World Cup was canceled for this reason; on the other hand, a world cup tournament took place in Spain for the first time since 2011.

The Swiss watch manufacturer Longines is once again the name sponsor of the tournament series. All tournaments in the league are advertised as CSI 5 *, the highest category in show jumping. They are marked with the suffix -W (i.e. CSI 5 * -W) to identify them as World Cup tournaments.

In the 2014/2015 season, the Western European League extends from October 19, 2014 to March 1, 2015. The best 18 riders in the Western European League and any additional participants (“extra competitors”) qualify for the 2015 World Cup final .

The World Cup special stages take place on Sunday afternoons and occasionally on Saturday evenings. They are advertised as a jumping competition with a single jump- off, the height of the obstacles is up to 1.60 meters. The endowment for these tests was at least € 100,000 each .

media

All World Cup competitions in the Western European League are broadcast by the FEI via its Internet portal FEI TV for a fee . The World Cup competitions are mostly broadcast live on television in the host country; in some European countries the other competitions in the Western European League were also broadcast live with a time delay. The pan-European sports channel Eurosport shows the exams in a 60-minute summary, which can usually be seen on the evening of the day of the exam.

The exams

1st test: Oslo

The traditional start of the Western European League is the Oslo Horse Show in Oslo . The tournament took place from October 16-19, 2014 in the Telenor Arena . The world cup competition was held on October 13th from 1:00 p.m. Nine out of 40 participants made it into the jump-off. Seven of these tabs were again without errors. The decision to win was close, Marco Kutscher narrowly missed it with Cornet's Cristallo , he was seven hundredths of a second behind the winner. The victory went to Jur Vrieling with his gray stallion Zirocco Blue .

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	Netherlands Jur Vrieling	Zirocco Blue	0	-	0	34.22	20th
2	Germany Marco Kutscher	Cornet's Cristallo	0	-	0	34.29	17th
3	Switzerland Steve Guerdat	Nino des Buissonnets	0	-	0	35.22	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 40 participants)

2nd test: Helsinki

The second stop of the Western European League was the Helsinki International Horse Show, which took place from October 23 to 26, 2014 - After 17 years in the Hartwall Arena , the tournament was held at a new location in Helsinki , Helsingin Jäähalli . The World Cup jumping was held here on October 26th from 4:00 p.m.

With 15 of 40 starter pairs, an above-average number of participants remained fault-free in the normal round. Of these 15 riders, nine failed again in the jump-off with their horses. Fourth place went to the winning pair from Oslo, Jur Vrieling and Zirocco Blue . The first three places saw a premiere in the history of the Show Jumping World Cup: for the first time, three Swiss riders came in first to third in a World Cup competition. Victory went to Steve Guerdat with his top horse Nino des Buissonnets .

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	Switzerland Steve Guerdat	Nino des Buissonnets	0	-	0	34.96	20th
2	Switzerland Martin Fuchs	Future	0	-	0	35.10	17th
3	Switzerland Pius Schwizer	Sixtine de Vains	0	-	0	35.33	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 40 participants)

3rd test: Lyon

Almost six months after the World Cup final in Lyon , another world cup tournament was held in Lyon with the Equitá Lyon. The tournament took place in 2014 from October 29th to November 2nd at Eurexpo .

In the first round of the World Cup, 14 riders managed to make no mistakes with their horses and thus qualify for the jump-off. Despite this extensive field of jump-off participants, only four starter pairs managed to stay clear here as well. Roger-Yves Bost won with the 10-year-old Qoud'Coeur de la Loge with a lead of 42 hundredths of a second .

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	France Roger-Yves Bost	Qoud'Coeur de la Loge	0	-	0	36.82	20th
2	Netherlands Wout-Jan van der Schans	Capetown	0	-	0	37.24	17th
3	Germany Hans-Dieter Dreher	Embassy II	0	-	0	38.41	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 40 participants)

4th test: Verona

From November 7th to 9th, 2014, the Italian stage of the Western European League took place as part of the Fieracavalli. The venue was the Veronafiere in Verona . The world cup competition started on November 9th around 2:30 p.m.

In the first round of the Verona World Cup, the time allowed was not a problem for the participants, no pair of starters received time penalties. Ten horse-rider pairs made no mistakes and made it into the jump-off. In the jump-off, five starters remained without errors. The 19-year-old Irishman Bertram Allen, who had already won the Grand Prix of the 5 * National Prize Tournament in Dublin in 2014, won by a clear margin. For everyone this was the first victory in a World Cup competition in the Western European League.

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	Ireland Bertram Allen	Molly Malone V.	0	-	0	34.89	20th
2	Netherlands Maikel van der Vleuten	Verdi	0	-	0	35.52	17th
3	Germany Marcus Ehning	Cornado NRW	0	-	0	35.77	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 38 participants)

5th exam: Stuttgart

The fifth evaluation test of the Western European League 2014/2015 was held as part of the Stuttgart German Masters . The tournament was held from November 19-23, 2014. The Grand Prix, which represented the World Cup special test in Stuttgart, took place on the afternoon of November 23rd.

As in Verona, ten horse-rider pairs remained without faults in Stuttgart in the first round of the World Cup, which corresponded to a quarter of the starting field. In the jump-off, six starter pairs managed to again go without mistakes. With a lead of over two seconds, victory clearly went to William Whitaker and Fandango .

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	United Kingdom William Whitaker	fandango	0	-	0	47.27	20th
2	United States Lucy Davis	Barron	0	-	0	49.84	17th
3	Switzerland Steve Guerdat	Nino des Buissonnets	0	-	0	50.43	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 40 participants)

6th test: Madrid

For the first time after the cancellation of the Vigo World Cup in February 2012, a Spanish stage of the Western European League was held again. The world cup competition was held as part of the Madrid Horse Week. The tournament took place from November 27th to 30th, 2014 in the Feria de Madrid .

In the first lap, eleven starter pairs managed to make no mistakes and thus make it into the jump-off. Eduardo Álvarez Aznar narrowly missed a place in the jump-off , with Rokfeller de Pleville Bois Mar he got a result of one time penalty. In the jump-off, five riders managed to stay clear. The Colombian Carlos Enrique Lopez Lizarazo and the 11-year-old gelding Prince de la Mare won with a lead of 21 hundredths of a second .

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	Colombia Carlos Enrique Lopez Lizarazo	Prince de la Mare	0	-	0	38.69	20th
2	Australia Edwina Tops-Alexander	tequila	0	-	0	38.90	17th
3	France Alexandre Fontanelle	Prime time des vagues	0	-	0	38.91	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 40 participants)

7. Exam: London

Shortly before the holidays, the seventh World Cup of the Western European League took place in the Olympia Grand Hall, which was already decorated for Christmas . The Olympia London International Horse Show was held in London from December 16-22, 2014 .

In the normal round of World Cup jumping, 13 starter pairs managed to remain without mistakes. The time allowed was tight, so that only three horse-rider pairs missed the entry into the jump-off only because of a time penalty. Of the 13 jump-off participants, six riders managed to again stay clear. The victory went to Marco Kutscher and his dark brown gelding Cornet's Cristallo .

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	Germany Marco Kutscher	Cornet's Cristallo	0	-	0	37.66	20th
2	Germany Daniel Deußer	Carriere	0	-	0	38.44	17th
3	Sweden Malin Baryard-Johnsson	Tornesch	0	-	0	39.70	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 38 participants)

8th test: Mechelen

Jumping Mechelen - Vlaanderens Kerstjumping , traditionally the last major tournament of the equestrian year, took place from December 26th to 30th in Mechelen , Belgium . The World Cup competition was held on the final day from 3 p.m.

Nine horse-rider pairs qualified for the jump-off with a faultless ride in the first round of the World Cup jumping. In the jump-off, four riders managed again to remain without mistakes. Simon Delestre and his stallion Qlassic Bois Margot won without penalty points and with the fastest time of all jump-off participants .

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	France Simon Delestre	Qlassic Bois Margot	0	-	0	32.42	20th
2	United Kingdom Joe Clee	Utamaro d'Ecaussines	0	-	0	34.93	17th
3	Sweden Douglas Lindelow	Casello	0	-	0	35.07	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 39 participants)

9. Examination: Leipzig

The Western European League was continued in 2015 with the partner horse at the Leipzig exhibition center . The tournament was held from January 15th to 18th, 2015.

The Grand Prix on Sunday was the show jumping World Cup competition in Leipzig. In the normal round of the test, only five out of 40 horse-rider pairs managed to remain without errors and thus make it into the jump-off. In the jump-off there were three faultless rides, with the fastest of these rides Hans-Dieter Dreher and the stallion Embassy II won .

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	Germany Hans-Dieter Dreher	Embassy II	0	-	0	36.07	20th
2	Norway Geir Gulliksen	Edesa S Banjan	0	-	0	37.72	17th
3	Italy Luca Maria Moneta	Connery	0	-	0	38.40	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 40 participants)

10th exam: Zurich

From January 23 to 25, 2015, the tenth World Cup of this Western European League season took place in the Hallenstadion in Zurich . On the afternoon of January 25th, the World Cup test of the CSI Zurich called Classic was held.

In the first round of the test, seven starter pairs failed to make mistakes. Although only a few riders received time penalties, two participants missed the jump-off with a time penalty point. In the jump-off, four riders failed again. The decision about the victory was very close: Sergio Alvarez Moya won with his gray horse Carlo , with only nine hundredths of a second behind Bertram Allen with his gray mare followed in second place.

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	Spain Sergio Alvarez Moya	Carlo	0	-	0	39.39	20th
2	Ireland Bertram Allen	Molly Malone V.	0	-	0	39.48	17th
3	Sweden Rolf-Göran Bengtsson	Casall	0	-	0	40.91	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 40 participants)

11th test: Bordeaux

The eleventh competition of the Western European League was held as part of the Jumping International de Bordeaux . This second French World Cup took place from February 6th to 8th, 2015 in the Parc de Expositions de Bordeaux . In contrast to most world cup tournaments, the world cup jumping test did not take place on the final day, but on Saturday evening.

As in the previous year, the allowed time played a subordinate role in the World Cup competition in Bordeaux, none of the participants received time penalties. In the normal round, eleven horse-rider pairs made no mistakes and qualified for the jump-off. Around the middle of the jump-off, Ludger Beerbaum started with Chaman and took the lead in 37.72 seconds with a faultless ride. Immediately after him followed Marcus Ehning with the 9-year-old Mexican stallion Singular , also made no mistakes, but did not come close to Beerbaum's time despite the short distances. As the penultimate rider, the youngest rider in the jump-off, Bertram Allen, started with the 17-year-old stallion Romanov and once again set the fastest time in a jump-off. Since he remained flawless, he achieved the second victory in a World Cup test in this Western European League season.

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	Ireland Bertram Allen	Romanov	0	-	0	36.48	20th
2	Germany Ludger Beerbaum	Chaman	0	-	0	37.72	17th
3	Germany Marcus Ehning	Singular	0	-	0	38.44	15th

12th test: Gothenburg

In the 2014/2015 season, too, the Gothenburg Horse Show marked the end of the Western European League. The world cup competition in Gothenburg was held from February 25th to March 1st 2015 in the Scandinavium , the world cup competition took place on March 1st from 3:00 p.m.

In the normal round of this last World Cup test, 13 riders and their horses made no mistakes, several of them saved their chance of a place in the World Cup final. The first pair of starters in the jump-off crossed the finish line with an error. So Pius Schwizer and Gerco Schröder each had an obstacle drop at the last obstacle of the course, so both missed the still possible jump into the top 18 places in the overall ranking.

Judy-Ann Melchior managed the first clear round in the jump-off with her gray mare As Cold as Ice Z. Steve Guerdat with Paille succeeded in the next ride without mistakes, but in a significantly faster time of 43.13 seconds . The next riders were Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, Marco Kutscher, Jur Vrieling and Henrik von Eckermann , who made no mistakes with their horses, but were slower than Guerdat. The last two starters in the jump-off were Edwina Tops-Alexander and Kevin Staut , both of whom had to accept one throw, so the victory went to Steve Guerdat.

	equestrian	horse	1st round		Sting		scoring points
	equestrian	horse	Penalty points	Time ( s )	Penalty points	Time ( s )	scoring points
1	Switzerland Steve Guerdat	Paille	0	-	0	43.13	20th
2	Sweden Rolf-Göran Bengtsson	Casall	0	-	0	43.49	17th
3	Germany Marco Kutscher	Cornet's Cristallo	0	-	0	43.89	15th

Overall rating

On the basis of the overall ranking, after all the special stages have been completed, it is determined which 18 riders from the states in the Western European League qualify for the final. In addition, other riders from other countries can qualify for the World Cup finals via the Western European League, provided they live in the Central / Western European League. Each rider can collect evaluation points in a maximum of six tests, further evaluation points are deleted.

The riders can also collect points in the North American World Cup (see "others" in the table below). Rating points from other World Cup leagues in the world, however, are not transferred to the Western European League.

The regulations can be found in the main article on the Show Jumping World Cup .

	equestrian	Oslo	Helsinki	Lyon	Verona	Stuttgart	Madrid	London	Mechelen	Leipzig	Zurich	Bordeaux	Gothenburg	Further	scoring points
1	Switzerland Steve Guerdat	15th	20th	(0)	7th	15th	(0)	-	-	-	(0)	0	20th	-	77
2	Ireland Bertram Allen	-	-	-	20th	4th	0	10	-	-	17th	20th	-	-	71
3	France Kevin Staut	11	10	(3)	(6)	(8th)	(2)	(0)	11	11	(3)	12	10	-	65
4th	United States Lucy Davis	-	-	-	-	17th	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	33	62
5	Germany Marco Kutscher	17th	(0)	-	-	7th	0	20th	-	0	-	-	15th	-	59
6th	Australia Edwina Tops-Alexander	8th	(0)	(0)	(0)	12	17th	(2)	-	-	5	10	5	-	57
7th	Netherlands Harrie Smolders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	-	0	-	0	56	56
8th	Germany Marcus Ehning	(0)	-	(0)	15th	13	-	8th	-	2	(0)	15th	0	-	53
9	Netherlands Maikel van der Vleuten	(0)	(0)	-	17th	(0)	-	5	-	5	10	8th	6th	-	51
10	Germany Daniel Deußer	(0)	6th	2	8th	-	10	17th	(0)	-	7th	(2)	(0)	-	50
11	Sweden Douglas Lindelow	10	4th	-	-	-	(0)	-	15th	12	(0)	0	8th	-	49
12	Netherlands Jur Vrieling	20th	13	-	-	-	-	0	0	-	-	-	13	-	46
13	Germany Hans-Dieter Dreher	-	-	15th	0	1	-	-	0	20th	8th	-	-	-	44
14th	Sweden Rolf-Göran Bengtsson	-	-	10	0	0	-	-	-	-	15th	-	17th	-	42
15th	France Simon Delestre	-	-	12	-	5	-	-	20th	0	-	4th	-	-	41
16	Switzerland Martin Fuchs	(0)	17th	-	11	0	-	0	-	-	12	-	0	-	40
17th	Norway Geir Gulliksen	(0)	9	-	(0)	-	-	12	-	17th	0	0	0	-	38
18th	France Pénélope Leprevost	5	-	(0)	(0)	9	-	(0)	0	0	13	11	-	-	38
19th	Spain Sergio Álvarez Moya	-	-	0	-	-	11	0	-	0	20th	6th	-	-	37
20th	Italy Luca Maria Moneta	(0)	3	-	(0)	(0)	(0)	11	-	15th	0	7th	0	-	36

World Cup Finals

For the first time since 2009, the show jumping World Cup final took place in Las Vegas . The final tournament, which also hosted the World Cup finals for dressage riders, was held from April 15 to 19, 2015.