Clear round puts Kurten in third spot

JESSICA Kurten moved up one place to third in the overall rankings at the World Cup final in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Riding the 10-year-old Castle Forbes Libertina, the Antrim rider was again on top form, finishing third of 32 in the second leg of the competition.

One of only six into the jump-off, the German-based rider demonstrated why she is number two in the world rankings when producing her third clear round in successive days.

She put in a tremendous effort in the jump-off to catch leader Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (Mac Kinley) and set out at a terrific pace. However, cautious approaches to the penultimate and last fences cost her precious time and she finished three-quarters of a second adrift of the Swede.

She said afterwards: “I saw Rolf’s round and thought I just won’t beat him today — his horse was so beautifully balanced.”

Switzerland’s Beat Mandli (Ideo du Thot) also paid the price for taking a pull to the last and finished runner-up, with German Marcus Ehning (Sandro Boy) fourth.

Kurten now lies third on the leaderboard, with one penalty, going into tomorrow’s final, deciding round.

Ahead of her are Mandli and Ehning, both of whom are currently on a zero score. Bengtsson is in equal fourth place, on four penalties, alongside reigning title holder Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum.

The Irish combination face their toughest test tomorrow when, along with 19 rivals, they will be confronted by fences set at a massive 1.60m.

Kurten confirmed this: “The level of sport in today’s competition was absolutely stunning,” she said, “but I expect Sunday’s course will be very, very demanding and it’s extremely open. You could quickly find yourself way down the line if you make a mistake.”