Edited press release from EEF

As the sun shone over the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre in Athens this afternoon, the Longines EEF Series Southern Region 2nd qualifier got underway and it was Ukraine that took the victory. 

The team of four riders who have been through so much in the last 12 months, could not have been more delighted with their result. “We’re ecstatic about the win and we’re thrilled to be continuing onwards to the semi-finals!” team anchor-woman Anastasia Bondarieva smiled. “There was a lot of pressure on us today, but we’re so pleased with the result and it’s a moment we’ll never forget – we made history for our country and it was beautiful. I’ve had some great wins in my life, but to do it with the team and for Ukraine was so special.”

After a dramatic first round over a cleverly designed course by Andreas Bamberger and George Fradelakis which saw fences fall evenly throughout the course, it was all to play for between three teams on a score of just four penalties, with Bulgaria entering round two in the lead, closely followed by Ukraine and host nation Greece.

In the second round, it was the Ukrainian team that held their nerve with two double clears – from Mykola Pylypeiko on Karat (Kannan x Copperphild) and Anastasia Bondarieva on Calder (Casall x Coriano), as well as an additional clear round from Konstantin Zolin and Hending van de Bresser (Carabas vd Wateringhoeve x Wendekreis) – leaving the team on their first-round score of four penalties and earning the maximum 100 qualifying points, securing their ticket to the semi-finals in Austria. Greece finished second on twelve penalties, followed by Italy on the same score.

With the Longines EEF Series Southern Region Qualifiers all wrapped up, the five teams that are heading to Austria for the Southern and Central Semi-final on 30th June are decided. Reigning Longines EEF Series champions Italy and today’s winners Ukraine head up the table with both teams finishing with 170 points each. Bulgaria, Greece and Romania claimed the remaining tickets.