Three Italians make the Vaulting finals

It was a good weekend for the Italian riders in Leipzig, with some excellent results, especially in the Vaulting with three podium places. There was the second place of Silvia Stopazzini in the ladies individual, behind the German Kristina Boe, with a score of 8212. In the same event Anna Cavallaro also came fourth and has already qualified for the finals in Dortmund on March 2-5th thanks to her leadership in the Overall standings.
The was a podium also in the men’s individual event thanks to Francesco Bortoletto, although the race was once again dominated by local riders, Daniel Kaiser and Jannik Heiland in first and second respectively. Lorenzo Lupacchini finished 7th.
In the pax de deux category there was another excellent performance from Stopazzini & Lupacchini who managed an excellent second place with 8271 points behind the Germans Torben Jacobs & Theresa Sophie Bresch (8,615).
The events in Leipzig were the last chance to qualify for the Finals where the six best athletes will do battle in the Individual event while the top four will go head to head in the pas de deux category.
The ladies’ half of the draw could be a straight battle between Kristine Boa from Germany and the Italian Anna Cavallaro although Silvia Stopazzini, who is on the up after three consecutive second places, could also be a serious threat.
For the men, Lukas Heppler is the man to beat. The Swiss man has been outstanding in the Fei World Cup but the competition is fierce with Daniel Kaiser and the 2015 champion Jannis Drewell also strong contenders.
In the pax de deux category, Silvia Stopazzini and Lorenzo Lupacchini are the favourites. The azzurri lead the standings by 30 points but keep an eye out for Theresa-Sophie Bresch and Torben Jacobs from Germany.
www.fei.org
photo: Winner Kristina Boe (GER) with the horse Don de la Mar, FEI World Cup Individual Vaulting Female – Leipzig – Partner Pferd 2017, (Photo: FEI/Stefan Lafrentz)
(MC)