Rotterdam: Silver for the Dutch team!
The teamtest at the European championships in Rotterdam was incredible; absolute topsport was shown at the venue of the ‘Kralingse bos’. TeamNL had their eyes on Edward Gal with GLOCK's Zonik N.O.P., who didn’t disappoint and performed to a superb 78.758%. This was enough for the bronze medal. But after Charlotte Dujardin’s test, it turned out she was disqualified due to blood on the flank of her horse. This made the Dutch go from a bronze to a silver medal! Germany ended up first, as expected.
Emmelie Scholtens with Desperado N.O.P had a very nice test, they scored 76.087%. “He gave me a great feeling and he was definitely of contribution for the team. There are always things you would like to have better, but my goal was to show a fluent test and that turned out quite well. I hope it will be enough for a medal.
The other countries which were in the race for the bronze medal, Denmark and Sweden, didn’t disappoint and had very good tests as well. This made Edward had to score above 78.5% to ensure a medal. “I knew I had to go for it. Not necessarily the percentage, but you want to be there for the team and get the best result possible. I knew a test without mistakes would be rewarded. I had the feeling the extended trot and a few other parts went really well. I am glad I could perform like this with GLOCK’s Zonik and that this is the result.”
The disqualification of Dujardin – due to a tiny drip of blood on the left flank of her horse Mount St John Freestyle – made the British team fall down to a fourth place. TeamNL deserved the second place with 230.140 points. The bronze went to Sweden(229.969). Germany was of outstanding quality and won gold for the 24th time with 244.969 points.
Happy coach
National coach Alex van Silfhout is a happy man after the class. “This is nicer than nice. We knew we weren’t allowed to do anything wrong. In our sport it can go wrong easily so this was pretty exciting. When you go to a championship like this, you hope that your riders will show outstanding performances. It was enough. Hans Peter had a good test with GLOCK’s Dream Boy N.O.P. The pressure was off and the horse was nice and sharp. Apart from that they showed that there still was room for improvement.”
Van Silfhout continues: “We don’t have to talk about Edward, he performed superb. During the warm up GLOCK’s Zonik N.O.P was not focussed due to several pretty mares. Edward knew how to handle this and knew how to perform. Emmelie Scholtens had a nice test as well, but there are some points that can be better, which isn’t negative, but it gives us possibilities for the future. Anne went well too; she had a few mistakes but in the end I cannot complain at all. We still can do better!”
Team Results
Gold Germany - 244.969
Silver The Netherlands - 230.140
Bronze Sweden - 229.923
Individual results Grand Prix
1. Isabell Werth (GER) - Bella Rose (v. Belissimo), 85.652%
2. Dorothee Schneider (GER) - Showtime FRH (v. Sandro Hit), 80.233%
3. Sönke Rothenberger (GER) - Cosmo (v. Van Gogh), 79.084%
4. Edward Gal (Oosterbeek) - GLOCK's Zonik N.O.P. (v. Blue Hors Zack), 78.758%
13. Emmelie Scholtens (Gorinchem) - Desperado N.O.P. (v. Vivaldi), 76,087%
15. Hans Peter Minderhoud (Oosterbeek) - GLOCK's Dream Boy N.O.P. (v. Vivaldi), 75.295%
25. Anne Meulendijks (Heeze) - MDH Avanti N.O.P. (v. United), 71.801%
Source: KNHS