Teams, new riders join equestrian competition

via:ShanghaiDaily.By Ma Yue | April 29, 2016, Friday



A new discipline will be on show when the world’s top class show jump riders come to Shanghai for the 2016 Longines Global Champions Tour, which will be held near the China Art Museum in Pudong from today to Sunday.
Shanghai is staging the five-star show jumping event for the third successive year. The city will serve as the fourth stop of the 15-leg tour after previous stops in Miami Beach, Mexico City and Antwerp.
“This year’s event will be more exciting to watch after GCT introduced a brand-new discipline to make riders compete in teams,” said Yang Yibin, vice general manager of local organizer Shanghai Juss Event. “The participation of two Chinese riders will be another highlight.”
The two Chinese riders — 23-year-old Zhu Meimei and 32-year-old Zhao Zhiwen — will be given wildcards for the Shanghai event. Both of them grew up overseas but have Chinese nationality.
“We want to add more Chinese elements to the tournament this year,” said Yang. “China Equestrian Association helped us to find Zhu and Zhao, who are among the top-tier Chinese equestrian riders. Since they are based in Europe, their horses also meet the quarantine requirements.”
It is not the first time that Chinese riders are competing in GCT. Beijing native Han Zhuangzhuang took part in the inaugural GCT Shanghai event in 2014, but had to withdraw on the third day due to poor form of his horse Centaura.
The venue has been decked in European style while the avenue and exhibitions feature equestrian culture and products.
A Sino-European equestrian industry forum will also be organized this year to boost communication between the two sides. Yang said that GCT’s sponsors would invite celebrities including Taiwanese actress Lin Chi-ling to promote the event.
“We hope the GCT event in Shanghai can help promote the industry in China,” said Yang.
About 100 world-class horses will participate in the Shanghai competition this year, an increase from the 80 horses two years ago.
“Horse owners and riders were not aware of the Shanghai event two years ago as it was the first time a Chinese mainland city had ever hosted a premier international equestrian competition,” said Yang. “The last two years’ successful staging of the event cleared a lot of their doubts and therefore there are more participants here this year.”
The Global Champions Tour has grown from six events in 2006 to 15 events this year, with Mexico City the latest to join. To make the tournament more attractive for newcomers, GCT has introduced a brand-new team competition — Global Champions League. Riders can form teams themselves, which are named after the host cities of the GCT. Each team consists of four to five riders with two of them competing at a time. The team that tops the standing at the end of the year will be the final winner.
Team Shanghai Swans is led by Olympic gold medalist Ben Maher (Germany). His teammates include Edwina Tops-Alexander (Australia), Janne-Friederike Meyer (Germany), Brit Alexandra Thornton (Germany) and U25 rider Jessica Springsteen (USA).
Twelve teams participated at this year’s first stop at Miami Beach. Eight teams made it through to the second round, based on time and penalties. Eventually, John Whitakers (Germany) and Bertram Allen (Ireland), representing team Valkenswaard United, snatched a close victory.
“I think we saw some exciting sport,” said Dutch champion Harrie Smolders, who jumped two clear rounds for team Antwerp Diamonds in Miami Beach. “We are all going to make this into a successful story.”
Tops-Alexander and Meyer helped Shanghai Swans to win the competition in Mexico City. After the first two rounds, team Monano Aces became the leaders with 48 points — just one point ahead of Shanghai Swans. Shanghai is one point ahead of Valkenswaard United.
“Ten years ago, we started to be different in this sport,” said Jan Tops, co-founder of Global Champions League. “We started the GCT and as you’ve seen in the past few years, we’ve been successful in changing the sport in general. With this new concept, I think we are going to see a new era which is good for the sport and for the fans we attract — it’s fun.”

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