dcro

It's weird. Seems like the Polish federation is not very interested to send teams except for the Olympic Games. There are eligible Polish riders out there, but aside from Tokyo, the federation just hasn't been sending teams out there recently. Before Tokyo, you need to go back to Strzegom 2017 to find the last time Poland had a team, but that's because they were the hosts probably. And before Strzegom, the 2014 WEG was the last time, when Poland was much, much weaker compared to today.

Definite entries Poland downgraded themselves from team to just two individuals. No changes otherwise.

We are barely capable of beating Estonia these days. You'll be fine.

Famous last words ^ ... Joseph Murphy & Calmaro are out following a "setback" in training. Newbie Felicity Ward will replace him. Irish team is as good as useless now, to be frank, but maybe they will surprise me. What a pitty for Murphy. Top 10 in Kentucky and Top 5 in Aachen this year was hugely promising.

Another very respectable loss, 8:16 to Italy. Hopefully they will keep at it for the crucial 5-8 playoffs...

That was a typical strategy for the Olympic year. Not sure how encouraging it is for the middle of the cycle...

defeats

Oh, wow, we have defeated GB. Good to know there are still one or two nations weaker than us.

Don't you just love it when purely individual sports start staging more team events than individual events?

Irish team has been underwhelming recently. It's almost worrisome that McCarthy & Fallulah got named, given Fallulah's very poor show jumping record... Saying that, Joseph Murphy has had an excellent season and should be the one to watch. Japan has a strong team. They placed 4th in 2018 so it's a familiar territory to them. Switzerland has been improving season after season ever since they hired Andrew Nicholson to be their national coach. This is their most promising team ever, plus they got great history in Pratoni as both their Nations Cup victories ever have happened right here.

In this case I will be staying at a friend's place so it will be like a jackpot.

Hey, I will be visiting Prague in a month. Should be loads of fun.

Not the phantom one this time. Canada has revealed that Dana Cooke & Mississippi will be stepping in to replace Colleen Loach & Vermont.

Usually. However Mexico is in a slump right now.

Update: Saudi Arabia withdrew too. Since there are no other options from the Middle East, the FEI has offered the starting place to Norway. Everyone but JOR/NOR/ESP has confirmed their participation so far... https://inside.fei.org/fei/disc/jumping/main-events/nations-cup/current

A Monegasque guy addicted to gambling? No way.

Yet another victory for Vanagaite today in Samorin, Slovakia. This will bring her total to 77 points. https://data.fei.org/Ranking/Search.aspx?rankingCode=D_WC&nfGroup=5002 Five more qualifiers left for the Central European League (Tallinn, Budapest, Szilvasvarad, Zakrzow, Motesice). However Glinka and Vanagaite have such a huge lead at the moment that they are basically shoe-ins for the Finals in Omaha, Nebraska next year. Someone else would have to basically score four victories in these five remaining events, and that's just... not very likely.

Ireland is on a record winless streak though. When was the last one? 2019 Annual?

Vaterpolistice izgledno u četvrtfinalu EP nakon pobjede nad Njemačkom. Pitanje je koliko ih ide na Svjetsko prvenstvo odavde. Rekao bih najboljih šest, što bi moglo značiti da bi pobjeda u razigravanju za 5.-8. mjesto bila dovoljna, a tu vjerojatno igramo protiv Izraela.

Btw, how many qualify for the World Championships out of here? FINA is not very known for their transparent qualification systems, but I'm guessing Top 6 is likely enough. It will be a challenge, but who knows, it is possible. It will all come down to that certain 5th-8th place playoff match.

Historic win against Germany. Excellent chance to make the quarterfinals and then fight for 6th or 7th place. Even the loss against the Netherlands was not that bad (6:22).

Without Russia, Hungary is the current favorite for the Group C quota in team dressage. Well, it was already a close battle with Russia last year, but without them, the main competition should now come from Lithuania and Poland. Nothing is guaranteed, but Hungary does have a decent number of riders out there, including some who are staying very competitive at the European Under-25 Championships (which are being staged this week in Hungary).

Qualifiers for the Nations Cup Final: Europe Division 1 - Middle East - ( withdrew) North, Central America & Caribbean - South America - Africa - Asia / Australasia - Eurasia - Host Nation - (not eligible for Olympic qualification ! ) Some nations are yet to confirm their participation (more info here). Curiously, Uzbekistan has confirmed it. Kudos to FEI for making sure the host is not eligible for Olympic qualification (unless they earn their qualification outright, which Spain did not). Right now, I'd say the quota place will be contested between , but maybe can grab it too.

Sweden Frida Andersen and Box Leo – 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding (Jaguar Mail x Box Qutie, by Quite Easy). Owned by Therese Örup Aminda Ingulfson and Joystick – 14-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding (Jaguar Mail x For Joy SN, by Cardento 933). Owned by Helena Gunnarsson and the rider Malin Josefsson and Golden Midnight – 14-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding (Goldmine x Duva, by Maraton). Owned by Karin Berglund Sofia Sjoborg and Bryjamolga van het Marienshof Z – 11-year-old Zangersheide mare (Bamako de Muze x Cryloga M, by Lord Z). Owned by Juliet and Mattias Sjoborg and the rider Individual: Niklas Lindback and Focus Filiocus – 15-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding (Feliciano 823 x Blue Bells, by Be My Chief). Owned by Tun Albertson Belgium Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Hermione d’Arville – 9-year-old Belgian Sport Horse mare (Birkhof’s Royaldik x Kyra du Relais Pachis, by Kashmir van Schuttershof). Owned by Five Star Eventers SPARL and Larga SPRL Karin Donckers and Fletcha van’t Verahof – 17-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Vigo d Arsquilles STX x Southern Queen, by Southern Gale). Owned by Joris de Brabandere, Carl Bouckaert, and the rider Senne Vervaecke and Google van Alsingen – 11-year-old KWPN mare (Watch Me x Pinot Brun VH Pannehof, by Forever). Owned by BVBA Alsingen Jarno Verwimp and Mahalia – 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare (Elvis ter Putte x Cohiba, by Condrieu). Owned by Marc Rigouts and the rider Individual: Maarten Boon and Gravin van Cantos – 11-year-old KWPN mare (breeding unknown). Owned by the rider Colleen Loach withdrew. Canada named Dana Cooke and Lisa Marie Fergusson as reserves so I guess one of them will step in. Let's see if they were the real reserves, or just the phantom ones.

And in Algeria, everyone is using doping to qualify for major events. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1072034/algerian-olympic-committee-president-claims-athletes-in-country-are-doping-to-qualify-for-major-events