Global Champions League, London Knights winners in Chantilly

The Global Champions League (team competition) associated with the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix (individual title) is a real championship in several episodes and the Champions of the day are called the London Knights, for the Anglo-Belgian team consisting of Ben Maher and Nicola Philippaerts, who makes a double with the individual title. Belgium and England were the two nations of the day, but in the end, as Gary Lineker might have said, Belgium had the last word.A competition that starts with a team class leading to an individual: it is exactly the same scenario as the major championships. This is what the Global Champion circuit offers eighteen times a year, from Miami to Shanghai, Mexico City and … Chantilly. The princely city, with its exceptional setting, is one of the most beautiful stages and, with its public, who comes with passion and braved the heat wave, the location gives even more to these shows this dimension of “championship“. The story is written over two days. Yesterday, the 2012 Olympic Champion, Ben Maher of England and Belgian Nicola Philippaerts, under the colors of the London Knights, took the lead, closely followed by Valkenswaard United. When both teams showed up on the track, they had a comfortable margin of eight faults. Then a game about pressure was going to play its role. The Italian Alberto Zorzi (Valkenswaard United) was the first to put it. Maybe on his teammate, ensuring a clear round, certainly, but in a time far from those of the fastest rounds of the afternoon, forcing his teammate Marcus Ehning to “pass the fifth“ of Cornado NRW who was going to achieve the fastest course of the class, but with a fault. The London Knights only had to make two clear rounds, but easier to write than to do: H & M Chilli Willi had also a fence down and Nico Philippaerts handed the keys to Ben Maher with only one option: sign a clear round as fast as possible. Mission, which the Englishman, particularly in shape at the moment, performed perfectly: the man is solid and Winning Good, his horse, consistent. “The teams are really strong, it’s always a tough battle and I can only be very happy with this result,“ said the Englishman. The London Knights consolidate their leadership at the top of the overall standings by winning the Global Champions League of the Jumping International of Chantilly.Source: Press Release Longines Global Champions Tour ChantillyPhoto: RBPresse S.Rispail