Prague Lions with Kellner are in the Super Cup final in Prague for the first time
Update: 19/11/2022 00:34
Issued by: 18/11/2022, 20:34
Prague – The Prague Lions team with Czech rider and manager Anna Kellner reached the six-man Super Cup final for the first time during the fourth year of the Prague Playoffs. Today, they took the position with sixteen penalty points, and on Sunday it will be about the prestigious team trophy, which culminates in the Global Champions League series.
In it, in the current specific Lions won three races and took the third place overall. Thanks to this, they were seeded directly into the semis and were among the candidates for promotion. The Belgian Pieter Devos with Nascar and the other team member Kellner with the mare Catch Me If You Can made one mistake each. The Czech representative was visibly happy after the parkour with four penalty points.
The trio was rounded off by the second Belgian, Niels Bruynseels, who, like Kellnerová, made a mistake at the first jump from the triple combination and then hesitated even at the last obstacle. Because of this, the home team was still not sure of advancement, they ranked in the interim fifth place and there was a threat that, just like in the last two years of this elite event, they would end up in seventh place. They had to wait to see how the two best teams of the season would fare.
The rides of the Stockholm Hearts team, whose drivers collected 32 penalty points, moved them to the finals. The Berlin Eagles also ranked behind the Prague Lions.
The joy of the Czech team at the historic progress was great. “We did a great thing as a team. From the beginning of the season, the goal was to qualify for. I’m proud of my team,” said Devos, who joined the Lions earlier this season and has become a leader.
This time, in front of the home crowd, the Prague Lions were under extraordinary pressure to follow up on the results from the season. “You’re more nervous, you don’t want to disappoint everyone who came and bought tickets for Sunday. I’m glad we managed it,” Kellner said. Her longtime partner Bruynseels was not satisfied with her personal performance. “Finally it was enough, that’s important” he remarked with relief.
The Valkenswaard United team performed best in the semi-finals, whose trio of drivers was the only one to remain on four penalty points.
The semi-final was the final for the Hamburg Giants, whose line-up was once again completed by Sára Vingrálková. She had an unsuccessful entry into the park when she dropped the first two obstacles. In the first one, her horse Kas-Sini DC paid for tripping just before the obstacle. “He lost and didn’t manage to bounce back well,” the twenty-year-old Czech rider regretted. “I think that’s what caused the mistake on the double, because it threw the horse and me quite a bit. The double followed very quickly,” she said
In the next course, however, she made only one mistake and had a total of twelve penalty points. With that, she was satisfied not only on the demanding parkour, but also on the jumps, even though she took two of the three failures on herself. “I consider it my riding mistakes. Of course, it results from the fact that I don’t have as much experience as others. But you need to get it somewhere,” she added.
The highlight of Saturday’s program at the O2 Arena will be the Super Grand Prix of Individuals.