A victory for Tipperary's Denis Lynch in this afternoon's World Cup qualifier in s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, now means that Ireland will have two competitors amongst the elite 18 riders who go through to the World Cup final at Leipzig in Germany next month.
A thrilling finish saw the 34-year-old take the lead with Thomas Straumann's gelding Abbervail van het Dingeshof halfway through the 17 horse jump-off.
Despite the best efforts of Europe's other top riders, Lynch held onto his advantage to take the €58,000 first prize and vital World Cup ranking points that will ensure his inclusion in the Leipzig final. The result catapults him from a rank of 30th to 15th overall.
Ireland's other World Cup finalist will be Cork's Billy Twomey, who is now fifth in the rankings after finishing 11th at s-Hertogenbosch today with Sue Davies's stallion Je t'Aime Flamenco.
After receiving his prize today, Lynch joked: ‘I've been trying for this for the last 15 years - it's about time I won a World Cup qualifier.’
Team Ireland Equestrian's show-jumping manager Robert Splaine said: ‘This was a superb performance from Denis this afternoon.
‘I'm absolutely delighted that he's qualified. Ireland has never won a World Cup final, but with Denis and Billy now in the competition, both with superb horses, this could very well be our year.’
SHOW JUMPING RESULTS: CSI5*-W S-HERTOGENBOSCH NETHERLANDS MARCH 24-27 2011
Rolex FEI World Cup Qualifier
International Jumping Competition
Table A with Jump Off
1m60
FEI Art. 238.2.2
Sunday March 27, 2011
1) Abbervail van het Dingeshof; Denis Lynch (IRL) Faults 0.00/0.00 Time 40.66
2) BMC van Grunsven Simon; Jeroen Dubbeldam (NED) Faults 0.00/0.00 Time 40.97
3) VDL Groep Utascha SFN; Eric van der Vleuten (NED) Faults 0.00/0.00 Time 41.74
11) Je t'Aime Flamenco; Billy Twomey (IRL) Faults 0.00/4.00 Time 42.70
40 starters
