World Equestrian Games: GB showjumpers out of team event
Last updated on .From the section Equestrian
Great Britain's showjumpers went out of the World Equestrian Games team competition after they could only finish 18th in Caen.
Not only did their failure to finish among the top 10 deny them a place in Thursday's final, it also put hopes of Olympic qualification on hold until next year's European Championships.
World number one Scott Brash remains in the hunt for a world individual medal.
Brash is 36th overnight and the top 50 ride again on Thursday.
| Great Britain's Scott Brash |
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| "It is very important to bring in new combinations. Horses get injured, riders get injured and things can go wrong. It just wasn't our day." |
The leading 30 combinations then go into Saturday's penultimate competition.
Michael Whitaker, Joe Clee and Spencer Roe all missed the cut at Stade D'Ornano, however, having a total of nine fences down between them.
Clee collected 12 faults aboard Utamaro d'Ecaussines, Whitaker also had 12 faults with Viking, while Roe picked up eight faults on Wonder Why. Brash had one fence down aboard Hello Sanctos.
Britain went into the competition without world number three Ben Maher, whose horse Cella suffered an injury, while Maher's fellow London 2012 team gold medallist Nick Skelton was another absentee as his top ride Big Star continues to regain full fitness.
"It has been an unfortunate day," Scotsman Brash said. "But we have got to take the positives. We had two lads in their first championship [Clee and Roe], and they both rode great.
"It is very important to bring in new combinations. Horses get injured, riders get injured and things can go wrong. It just wasn't our day."
The 10 final team spots were filled by the Netherlands, the United States, Germany, France, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Ireland, Colombia and Ukraine.
France's Patrice Delaveau led the individual standings from American Beezie Madden and Swede Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, with three Irish riders - Bertram Allen, Darragh Kenny and Denis Lynch - also moving forward into the next phase.
