A win for Lahde, Głoskowski third
Today's course of the PKO Bank Polski Grand Prix proved to be very difficult. In the first round, the fans in the Sopot ERGO ARENA saw only three clear rounds and many with one accidental knockdown. Emotions in the stands were sky high, with everyone waiting for the next ones to qualify for the deciding rivalry.
- Such a difficult course, set up by Arkadiusz Weckwert, was also certainly a chance for many riders, including Polish ones, to prepare for other events this season. Perhaps some of the pairs who competed today are thinking about getting a place in the national team for the Olympic Games in Paris," said Szymon Tarant, Sports Director of CAVALIADA Tour.
There were three riders in the jump-off in the class, counting for the International Equestrian Federation and CAVALIADA Tour rankings, so everyone was confident of their good place and could take risks with confidence. After a short and exciting course, the winner was Harm Lahde from Germany with the 11-year-old gelding Echo Van Spalbeek Z. It is worth recalling that ten years ago he, as a junior and pupil of the famous German Felix Hassmann, came to the CAVALIADA competition in Poznań. Back then he won the opening class at a modest height of 130 cm, today he triumphs in such a prestigious PKO Bank Polski Grand Prix.
- I think in the first course the trickiest part was at the end - and that's where we saw most mistakes. In the jump-off, at the beginning my horse hesitated a bit at the second one, I felt we didn't have the right pace and I had to quickly change my plan and take a risk," said Harm Lahde. - 'I've been to all the CAVALIADA locations so far with my girlfriend and we are also going to the final in Krakow. We love coming here because the atmosphere and the audience is amazing. Thank you all so much for the wonderful support. It cannot be compared to anything. You can see that there are people here who are passionate about the sport. For us as riders, CAVALIADA is not only a competition, but also a great opportunity to visit beautiful cities. You could say that we feel half at work and half on holiday here," added the winner.
Second place went to Sven Gero Hünicke from Germany with the gelding Mastermind RL. Pole - Andrzej Głoskowski riding Verdinale – finished third.
Results - https://livejumping.com/ap/event/9652/competition/141653
There have been some key changes in the CAVALIADA Tour rankings before the Final. The new leader is Harm Lahde, followed by his partner – Finja Bormann, and third belongs to Angelos Touloupis from Greece.
The organiser of CAVALIADA Sopot is Grupa MTP. The main sponsor is PKO Bank Polski, the strategic sponsors are ORLEN and LOTTO, the host city is Sopot, and the partners are the Pomeranian Voivodeship and Lech Wałęsa Airport in Gdańsk.