Australian Ginger Kennett has enjoyed a great start to the FEI Vaulting World Cup Final in Basel, Switzerland, scoring 7.178 in the Individual Female Technical Test with horse Goldjunge and lunger Jacqueline Schonteich. They finished the day in sixth place, with the Freestyle still to come on Sunday.
The Freestyle starts at 10.45am local time, 6.45pm AEST.
Meyer makes her Vaulting mark in Basel
FEI press release by Joanne Littlejohn
Germany, France and Italy lead the way after round one of the J. Safra Sarasin FEI Vaulting World Cup Final, after a morning of intense competition which saw Kathrin Meyer (GER) and Quentin Jabet (FRA) top the individual leaderboards and Rebecca Greggio and Davide Zanella (ITA) secure a round one win in the Pas-de-Deux.
Individual Female
The Swiss have high hopes after round one of the Individual Female competition in Basel (SUI). Competing with Rayo de La Luz and Monika Winkler-Bischofberger, Nadja Büttiker impressed with her water-themed Technical program, scoring 7.874 and landing in third place. After an explosive program, also performed with Rayo de la Luz and Winkler-Bischofberger, Ilona Hannich upped the energy and gave the home fans even more to cheer about. She has a clear lead over her teammate, finishing second in the overnight standings (8.444).
However, vaulting with exactitude, defending Champion, Germany’s Kathrin Meyer stole the show. Performing last, aboard Capitain Claus OLD, she showed exactly why she has won the title twice already. Her technical elements were excellent and combined with high-level freestyle exercises, won her the top scores from all the judges, 8.848, comfortably clear of her competitors.
Unfortunately for the USA’s Kimberly Palmer, her horse Rosenstolz was not completely settled in the St Jakobshalle arena. Despite doing her best under more challenging conditions her performance was affected, and she had to settle for fifth (7.419).
Individual Male
The top of the Male competition was full of creative personality. Germany’s Julian Wilfling was the first to truly dive into his distinctive exercises. Thrilling the judges, with Aragorn 102 and Alexander Zebrak he upped the artistic ante and posted a final score of 8.292, ultimately ending the round in third. Davide Zanella (ITA) then brought his flair. His costume perfectly tied together his concept and showing his style he scored over a nine artistically, placing second with Orlando Tancredi and Claudia Peterson, 8.448.
Not to be outdone, FEI Vaulting World Cup Final debutant, Frenchman Quentin Jabet, was near perfect in his Vaulting. Competing with a new combination – Goldjunge and Jaqueline Schönteich – his exercises and fluidity made up for a comparatively lower horse score, propelling him into a large lead after day one, with 8.990.
Last to compete in the Male competition, defending champion Jannik Heiland (GER) couldn’t keep up with Jabet. His young horse, Rey Rubino lunged by Lars Hansen, showed more energy, causing some loss of harmony for Heiland through the test. Along with a small error in an outside ground-jump he lost too many points, scoring 7.823 and taking fifth place.
Pas-de-Deux
There was drama in the Pas-de-Deux competition. The FEI Vaulting World Champions, Diana Harwardt and Peter Künne (GER) were finishing up a beautiful Freestyle when DSP Sir Lau Lau decided to stop. Lunger Andrea Harwardt was unable to move him on which hugely affected his horse score. Fortunately, with their tidy performance they were still able to score 7.832 and sit in fourth place.
Swiss combination Zoe Maruccio and Syra Schmidt also had an error at the end of their test. A lack of energy meant their final lift didn’t go to plan and they couldn’t complete their Free Test as planned. They took third place, 7.938, behind compatriots Li Laffer and Ilona Hannich, 8.258. Laffer and Hannich were first to compete with Calin and Alana Sohm. Their experience showed with clean execution and smooth transitions and wonderful showmanship.
It was defending Champions, Italian pair Rebecca Greggio and Davide Zanella, who won Saturday’s competition. Despite altering their program mid routine in order to keep up a clean performance, responding to the cues of their horse Orlando Tancredi and lunger Claudia Peterson, they executed an interestingly dynamic routine and give themselves some breathing space with a 0.22 lead (8.477). They played it slightly safe to ensure they would be ahead going into tomorrow’s Final.
The round one winners are in a prime position for the Final, however with round two worth 60% there is still much room for change in the final standings, with the athletes and horses needing to be on top form once again to lift the coveted trophy.
