Swede Henrik von Eckermann with his horse King Edward won the show jumping Super Grand Prix of individuals at the Prague Playoffs.
Vít Šimánek, CTK
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There were five flawless riders in the first round of the Super Grand Prix. The second representative of the Prague Lions did not include the Belgian Niels Bruynseels, who dropped one obstacle and scored four penalty points. He also had one mistake in the second round and finished eighth.
Álvarez Moya shone with two great performances in the saddle of Alama, who, unlike the unsuccessful semifinals of the team competition in the O2 arena on Friday, did not make a mistake. He was the first to score second and led ahead of the last two riders.
Sergio Álvarez Moya of Spain with his Alamo finished second at the individual show jumping Super Grand Prix at the Prague Playoffs.
Vít Šimánek, CTK
He was not even deposed by the star Brit Maher, whose Explosion threw the penultimate obstacle on his hind legs. Von Eckermann, 40, racing on an unseen horse, was already fascinated by entering the bowling alley, where he passed from the entrance gate. “I tried to calm him down, so we backed off. In the end, it turned out to be the best option for the horse to stay calm,” he told a news conference.
All obstacles remained in place after his ride and in the final lap he was 1.66 seconds faster than Álvarez, which was decisive in the point agreement. “I saw Explosion. I was a little relieved that he made one mistake, that there was an opportunity for me. The horse jumped great, even better than in the first round,” he praised himself.
He received a premium of almost 301,000 euros (over 7.6 million crowns) for the triumph. After the Olympic gold from the team competition, which the Swedes won in the summer after 97 years, he won a great individual triumph. He won the Super Grand Prix last when he won in Šamorín.
On Sunday, the Prague Playoffs will culminate in the two-round finals of the team competition. The Prague Lions lost their chance to win the Super Cup trophy in seventh place in the semifinals, which did not let them into the final six.
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