Switzerland won Sunday’s CSIO3* 1.45m Longines EEF Nations Cup in Mannheim, Germany, ahead of the host nation in second and Sweden in third.

Ten teams – Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Czech Rebublic, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland – were competing in Mannheim, as the Longines EEF Series kicked off for the 2022-season. Led by Chef d'Equipe Beat von Ballmoos, the Swiss team – with Elin Ott on Nanu II (New Time x Corofino 2), Niklaus Schurtenberger on Quincassi (Quintero x Cassini I), Edwin Smits on Best of Berlin BS (Berlin x Colman) and Alain Jufer on Dante MM (Diarado x Luxius) – took the win after a jump-off against host nation Germany. It was Alain Jufer who secured the victory for Switzerland, with a clear round in 41.03 seconds – beating Germany's Sophie Hinners by nearly a second. 

“It is an absolutely amazing day for us, the Longines EEF Series is very important for us because we have the opportunity to give some more riders a chance to ride Nations Cups, and for me, it was a special day as this was my first Nations Cup as a Chef d’Equipe," said Beat von Ballmoos.

Elin Ott, double clear for the Swiss team, said: “I’m very happy about my double-clear. We have a very good team spirit. My horse is in a very good shape, and was really good today.

Part of Germany's runner-up squad were Kendra Claricia Brinkop on Narcos v. Smidshoeve (Toulon x Thunder van de Zuuthoeve), Patrick Stühlmeyer on Carmina (Casall x San Patrignano Cassini), Sophie Hinners on Million Dollar (Plot Blue x Vigo d'Arsouilles) and Andre Thieme on Conacco (Conoglio x Chacco-Blue).  

With a team total of 10 penalties, Sweden – with Stephanie Holmén on Flip's Little Sparrow (Cardento 933 x Robin Z), Antonia Pettersson Häggström on Chaccatara (Chacco-Blue x Cento), Fredrik Spetz on Flanagan (Clinton x Edison) and Jonna Ekberg on Calypso de Beaufour (Diamant de Semilly x Corrado, led by Chef d'Equipe Ann Catrin Carlsson – took the third place. 

Only four riders managed to deliver double clears over Christa Jung's course in today's Nations Cup: Switzerland's Elin Ott riding Nanu II, Germany’s Patrick Stühlmeyer riding Carmina, Germany's Sophie Hinners riding Million Dollar, and Colombia’s Santiago Diaz Ortega riding Chasandro Boy (Chacco-Blue x Sandro Boy). 

With two qualifiers in each regional group, the top five teams from the Longines EEF Series will progress to the semi-finals, and from there the best ten teams will battle it out at the final in Warsaw in September.