Nicola Philippaerts (Katanga van het Dingeshof) finished second in the opening leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour Saturday night. Earlier that day, he won the teamcompetition in the Longines Global Champions League with his brother Olivier. Nicola was 1.54 sec slower than Daniel Deusser (Killer Queen VSM). Jérôme Guery (Quel Homme de Hus) finished 3rd. Olivier (H&M Extra) got one fence down and finished 14th.
Last week, Nicola rode his first outdoor competition of the year and ended fifth in the GP of Doha with Katanga v/h Dingeshof. Together with Olivier, he worked towards the highlight of their ten days in Doha: the Global Champions Tour competition.
The first round of the team competition took place on Friday. Olivier rode a clear round with Zayado on Friday, and so did Nicola with Katanga v/h Dingeshof. On Saturday, Oliver got H&M Extra under the saddle and rode a spotless round again. Nicola repeated yesterday's performance. The four clear rounds and fastest time resulted in a victory for the twins.
There was not so much time to enjoy their victory, as the twins had to compete in the GP just 1,5h later. Unfortunately, Olivier (H&M Extra) got one fence down. Nicola on the other hand, managed to stay clear with Katanga v/h Dingeshof and went to the jump-off, with six other riders. Nicola and Kantanga v/h Dingeshof were fifth to start, jumped great again and took the lead. With only one combination left to go, Nicola was almost sure of a second place. Daniel Deusser and Killer Queen VDM stayed clear as well and finished their round just 1,54sec. faster than Nicola and Katanga v/h Dingeshof.
"When you hit the stage twice during the first leg of the Longines Global Tour, you can't be anything but satisfied", says Nicola. "We won our first team competition. It's amazing to do that with Olivier. Our horses were in shape and jumped incredible. Katanga jumped great in the GP as well. Of all seven rounds from this and last weekend, she stayed clear. That's a stunning performance, for sure at this level. This is a great start of the season."
