The new Irish Show Jumping team manager Rodrigo Pessoa has named his squad for the opening five-star European Division 1 Nations Cup of the season at Lummen in Belgium, which takes place on Friday April 28th.
The squad in alphabetical order is:
Galway’s Michael Duffy (22) with Belcanto Z – owned by Alan Burnell
Sligo’s Richard Howley (24) with Chinook – owned by Mr & Mrs Aitkenhead
Limerick’s Paul Kennedy (23) with Cartown Danger Mouse (ISH) – owned by Jane Kennedy
Co Down’s Dermott Lennon (49) with Loughview Lou-Lou (ISH) – owned by Judith Sossick
Tipperary’s Denis Lynch (40) with Echo De Laubry – owned by Royne Zetterman
Speaking after announcing his five squad members, Rodrigo Pessoa said:
“We are looking forward to starting our 2017 Super League campaign. We are using a mix of young and experienced riders in Lummen and are hoping for a good result.”
Although Lummen is a European Division 1 Nations Cup, Ireland will not be competing for points at the Belgian venue. A new Nations Cup format for 2017 will see teams guaranteed invitations to six European Division 1 shows, with their four best results counting towards the league standings.
The six points-scoring Nations Cup shows selected for Ireland are: La Baule (May 11th-14th), Rome (May 24th-28th), Rotterdam (June 22nd-25th), Falsterbo (July 13th-16th), Hickstead (July 27th-30th), and Ireland’s home Nations Cup at the RDS in Dublin on August 9th-13th, where teams will compete for the Aga Khan trophy.
Ireland finished as runners-up on the 2016 Nations Cup league table to maintain their position for the coming season as one of eight European Division 1 teams, along with Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, France, Italy and newly-promoted Spain.
