IN what may be Rodrigo Pessoa’s final outing as Team Ireland chef d’equipe, his team have given themselves every chance at securing the final Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifying place in tomorrow’s FEI Nations Cup World Final at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona.

A solid performance from Peter Moloney, Paul O’Shea, Darragh Kenny and Cian O’Connor in Thursday’s opening round meant the Irish team were one of eight to make it through to the grand finale, and crucially, they have a chance to grab that last elusive place.

However, two other teams chasing that single Olympic slot – Columbia and Italy – also made the cut for Sunday, meaning it is all to play for.

“Yeah, for sure, I was very happy [with the performance]. It would have been wishful thinking that we would be the only team [of those looking for qualification] to get through to the final and qualify on the first day already. That would have been too easy,” Pessoa told The Irish Field on Friday.

“We are giving ourselves the best chance to get the job done on Sunday. It will be anyone’s day, we’ve have done what we can so far.”

Teams have the option to swap horses and riders for the second round of the final, but Pessoa will remain with the same four combinations who started on Thursday. “The team is going to stay the same, but we are definitely going to change the order. I am not sure to what yet but we will do something else for sure.

“Team spirit is very good, everyone is ready to tackle Sunday. There are other classes on here today and we have two riders that are doing the Grand Prix tonight (Friday),” added Pessoa, whose one-year contract extension expires at the end of the season, at which time he is likely to turn his focus back onto his own career in the saddle.

Over a difficult track designed by Santiago Varela at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona, Ireland went through in fifth place with a team total of 10 faults. Some 18 teams started the competition, with the remaining 10 going into tonight’s Challenge Cup.

Kept his faith

The manager kept his faith in the squad he brought to the FEI European Championships last month, but Paul O’Shea replaced Shane Sweetnam on the starting four.

Peter Moloney was first to go with Team Harmony’s 11-year-old stallion Chianti’s Champion. The pair faulted at the middle part of the combination and picked up a time fault to finish on a total of five faults.

Paul O’Shea and Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu, owned by the Machu Picchu Partners LLC, looked like they were going to deliver a clear round for the team, but the back bar of the penultimate fence fell, and he added a time fault to also finish on five.

Darragh Kenny restored team hopes with a foot-perfect clear round aboard Ann Thompson’s 13-year-old stallion Balou du Reventon to the delight of the Irish fans in the stadium.

Cian O’Connor and PSG Final took up the anchor role. The nine-year-old looked a little green at the double when knocking both parts. They picked up a time fault to finish on nine faults as the discard score.

That left Ireland on a team score of 10 faults. They join Belgium, France, Sweden, Columbia, Germany, Switzerland and Italy in Sunday’s showdown. The home nation of Spain agonisingly missed out by 0.45 of a second.

European champions Belgium looked supremely confident when coming out on top in the first round. Oliver Philippaerts (H&M Extra) and Gregory Wathelet (MJT Nevados S) jumped superb clear rounds, while Pieter Devos impressed on youngster Jade V Bisschop for four faults, and Jerome Guery (Quel Homme De Hus) was one of many to be caught out at the delicate plank at fence 10.

They had a single fault advantage over the French who went through in second with five faults. Columbia and Sweden shared third place with nine faults, and the Columbians, although sometimes disregarded as outsiders look in fighting form to secure their Olympic qualification, too.

Bonus

Darragh Kenny was among just 11 riders who produced clear rounds from the 70 who started Thursday’s competition. Riders who jumped clear in the qualifying round and Saturday’s Challenge Cup will be eligible for a €50,000 bonus, while those clear on Thursday and in tomorrow’s final will share a €100,000 bonus.

Former Irish international Jessica Kürten, who joined the entertaining FEI commentary team, criticised the first line riders, 12 (from 18) of who had time faults, for looking like they were taking “a walk in the park. They looked like they were going to stop for a piece of cake,” she said.

All members of the Irish team in Barcelona wore specially commissioned gold arm bands in support of their team mate Kevin Babington who is continuing his recovery from serious injuries sustained in a recent fall in the United States.