Nations Cup: super Switzerland steal the show in Sweden

All eyes were on Falsterbo, Sweden on Friday afternoon for what proved to be one of the closest legs of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup this season thanks to an intense and hard fought head to head between the host nation and Switzerland.
Despite the backing of the home crowd however, Sweden had to settle for second place as the Swiss took the victory following a majestic display from all of its riders, combining accuracy and speed for a brilliant win.
Switzerland, who were faultless, stormed to victory with Janika Sprunger, Werner Muff and Paul Estermann while the services of Romain Duguet weren’t even required such was the performance from the Swiss.
As mentioned, Sweden had to settle for second following a total of four penalties overall and this is how the hosts took to the field: Malin Baryard-Johnsson, Henrik von Eckermann, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and Peder Fredricson.
The final podium slot on the other hand was shared between Holland, Brazil and Great Britain with 8 penalties a piece.
Team GB will be more than pleased with their result and were competing with an experimental line-up of Tim Stockdale, Tim Wilks, Emma O’Dwyer and Joseph Clayton.
In contrast, the Dutch went for a tried and tested line-up and fielded Jeroen Dubbeldam, Jur Vrieling, Wout Jan van der Schans and Gerco Schroder.
Brazil opted for a similar approach and competed with the following stars: Rodrigo Pessoa, Stephan De Feitas Barcha, Doda de Miranda and Marlon Modolo Zanotelli. As for the other nations, Ireland came sixth, Germany seventh and the Czech Republic eighth.
After the latest leg of the tour for the European Division 1, Holland remain in first place in the overall standings with 335 points. Following behind we find Switzerland with 245 points and Sweden trail by 10 points in third spot.
France are in the slipstream of Sweden on 215 points while Great Britain are in fifth on 200 points and Ireland in sixth position on 152.5 points.
Surprisingly, Germany are way down in seventh on 135 points while Belgium (8th), Czech Republic (9th) and Italy (10th) round out the table.
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