THE Paris Panthers duo of Ireland’s Darragh Kenny and American rider Jack Hardin Towell, stormed to victory in Saturday morning’s third round of the Global Champions League in Shanghai, China.

Offaly-born Kenny guided the Kerry-Anne McCahill-owned Charly Chaplin S to a clear round in 77.81, to add to another clear round for the pair in the opening round on Friday.

Towel also jumped clear with Lucifer V and Paris Panthers’ combined time of 155.99, saw them finish six seconds ahead of the Hamburg Diamonds duo of John Whitaker and Jos Verloy who were the only other combination to finish on a zero score.

Third place on the podium went to the London Knights, after Ben Maher and Kent Farrington teamed up once more, with both riders jumping clear but carrying through four faults from the previous round.

Speaking afterwards, a delighted Darragh Kenny said: “It was a really good win, we are really, really happy about it. We had a bit of a plan to come here and try and do well and it really paid off.”

Bertram Allen’s Valkenswaard United hold onto top spot on the league table after Marcus Ehning and Alberto Zorzi put in another strong performance, with the German rider jumping clear in his GCL debut. Sitting on 74 points overall, the team are just six points ahead of the London Knights, who are a further eight points away from the St Tropez Pirates.

Darragh Kenny also finished in the prizes in the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix. He lowered a single fence in the first round with Charly Chaplin S to finish in seventh place overall behind Italian winner Lorenzo de Luca riding Ensor de Litrange.

Saturday’s results crowned a memorable weekend in Shanghai for Darragh Kenny, adding to a win and a runner-up finish for the Irish rider at the same venue on Friday.