It’s not often that a win for Germany comes as a surprise, but the sixth leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping Europe Division 1 League in Falsterbo, Sweden, proved to be just that. Otto Becker’s team could hardly believe it when they emerged victorious after lying fifth at the halfway stage. The competition, which had a packed stadium of enthusiastic spectators on the edge of their seats from start to finish, saw the Germans produce a solid seven-fault final scoreline.

In the closing stages it seemed to come down to a two-way tussle between the host nation and the Dutch who were amongst the five countries battling for qualifying points. Blindsiding both teams, the German team produced a polished performance to take the lead, which was all the more painful for the Swedish side when they had to settle for the runner-up spot by just a single fault margin. The Dutch dropped all the way fifth in the final analysis, behind the USA and Spain in joint-third place, while the British slotted into sixth, Switzerland finished seventh and the Ukraine lined-up eighth and last.