The qualifications of the national competition started without Niels Bruynseels. In the individual final his horse suffered an injury, he was replaced by Pieter Devos and his horse Claire Z.
It was the same Devos who was allowed to bite off the striker and immediately completed a clear round. He was penalized 1 point for just exceeding the time limit. A hopeful achievement. In the meantime, one of the favorites with Ireland had already fallen away after rider Sweetnam fell together with his horse Alejandro.
Jérôme Guéry had apparently analyzed Devos’ opener well, as he copied his performance down to the smallest detail. Again completely clear, but he also got a penalty because of the time limit.
Finally, it was also Grégory Wathelet’s turn. He had a lot of margin, took his time and, like his compatriots, remained clear. Belgium finished 2nd in the qualifying series after an unapproachable Sweden that kept clear and always within the time.
The team final is scheduled for tomorrow with the Netherlands, which completed a disappointing qualifying series, but ultimately managed to push through.
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