Edited press release from EEF

There were plenty of surprises at CSIO3*-W Budapest at the National Riding Hall on Saturday, with the second semi-final of the Longines EEF Nations Cup Series on the program. Following Deauville, the Longines EEF Nations Cup of Budapest was the decisive event for assigning the last five spots available for the Warsaw LES Final, spots won by Germany, Switzerland, Austria, The Netherlands and Hungary.

Led by Chef d’Equipe David Will, Germany won Saturday's Nations Cup with a total of eight faults. Marcel Marschall on Coolio (Casalito x Quidam de Revel) (4/8), Sven Schlüsselburg on Bud Spencer (Artiest de Wynckel x Azett) (0/0), Sophie Hinners on Million Dollar (Plot Blue x Vigo d'Arsouille) (0/4) and Jörne Sprehe on Hot Easy (Andiamo Z x Otangelo) (0/4) were part of the winning team. After a first impeccable round with a score of zero, Germany managed to hold the lead in the second round and left Switzerland behind them in second place with 12 faults and Austria in third with 20 faults. 

“I came here with an excellent team and excellent riders too and I am really happy. They made my job easy," German Chef d’Equipe David Will said.

“I was very concentrated in the warm-up and am riding an amazing horse, it’s been a good day and I feel really lucky," Sven Schlüsselburg said after being double clear for the Germans. 

The other teams competing fought for fourth and fifth place, which meant qualifying for Warsaw. The Netherlands and the Hungarian hosts both finished on 24 faults, and were ranked fourth and fifth according to time. Italy ended sixth and Greece seventh. 

Having won the Longines EEF Nations Cup Series Final last year, Italy will therefore not be competing in Poland this year to defend the title won in 2021. The teams competing in the Warsaw 2022 Final in September will be Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as Poland that will compete as the 11th team since it is the host nation.