Anky out of World Cup Final

Edward Gal, Adeline Cornelissen and Imke Schellekens-Bartels have done enough to push Anky van Grunsven out of the World Cup Final.

The last qualifying leg of the World Cup series in Gothenburg, Sweden, proved that Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival are ready for the final, winning with an impressive 84.40%.

"He was so relaxed I knew I could just get on with it" said Cornelissen afterwards. She explained that, due to the show programme, there was no opportunity to train in the arena prior to the Grand Prix so she knew she just had to ride the storm in Saturday's competition. "He's always like that, he looks at everything the first time and I had to use the Grand Prix as my training run but once he's seen things then he doesn't worry any more and he normally settles down well like he did tonight."

Sweden's Patrik Kittel produced the ride of his life with Scandic to slot into second place, and Imke Schellekens-Bartels came in third.

League leader Edward Gal was clearly always going to make the cut but Cornelissen, Imke Schellekens-Bartels and Anky Van Grunsven knew that tonight would decide which of them would join him. And in this battle of the giants it was winner Cornelissen and third-placed Schellekens-Bartels who earned their stripes while nine-time World Cup champion Van Grunsven just missed out when finishing fourth on Painted Black.

The World Cup Final will be held in 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands from 25-27 March. Look out for our own Brett Parbery and Victory Salute who are traveling to Europe this week to compete in the finals!


Pictured: Winners Adelinde Cornellissen and Parzival