Equestrian: New Zealand Wins Nations Cup
Four New Zealanders finished in the top 10, with Price leading through all phases for his victory on Vitali, clinching the individual and team gold medals with a brilliant cross-country round.
The successful pair had 30.5 penalty points, giving Price his first individual victory at Aachen, one of the world's toughest equestrian events.
Monica Spencer on Artist finished sixth with 37.2 penalty points, Clarke Johnstone on Rocket Man (40.8) ninth, and individual rider Jonelle Price on Hiarado (41.3) 10th. The other team member, Samantha Lissington, finished 22nd on Lord Seekonig.
Great Britain looked the likely winners of the event, but the New Zealanders dug deep to triumph by 8.7 penalty points, with the United States second and the British team third.
Tim Price and Johnstone were in the New Zealand team that won the Nations Cup in 2018, with Blyth Tait and Sir Mark Todd. Price finished third on individual points that year and has also had two fourths at Aachen.
Spencer and Artist, who had travelled from their US base for the event, had the quickest cross-country round, going clear with just 0.4 time penalties.
Spencer, Johnstone and the Prices all had clear showjumping rounds, adding just time penalties.
Tim Price felt the showjumping, which had sometimes been a challenging phase for 15-year-old Vitali, had this time opened the door to victory for him.
"He has always been a very good cross country horse and was super today. I am absolutely thrilled for the team.''
Equestrian Sports NZ general manager of high performance Jock Paget said he was thrilled with all five Kiwi combinations.
Aachen had been a key target for the year and an important event given it will host the 2026 world championships.
"To pull it off in this way is amazing," Paget said.
"Aachen is a hard place to do well.
"There was a huge amount of pressure with a very tough [cross country] course and the time wasn't achievable today but they all went out there and rode really competitively. They took a lot of risks, rode skilfully and got the job done. To have four New Zealanders in the top 10 at Aachen is amazing and to win double gold too.
"Aachen to us is like our European championships - we don't have one but we treat it like that. It was the biggest target for us this year. There are Nations Cups and then there is Aachen. This was the pin in the map for us this year."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
9 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Norrie survives to reach quarter-finals
Women's top seed Aryna Sabalenka and men's defending champion Carlos Alcaraz both survived tough tests to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals and Cameron Norrie kept alive British singles hopes after surviving a five-set thriller. Sabalenka ruined home favourite Emma Raducanu's dream in the previous round but had the Centre Court crowd cheering her on as she beat Elise Mertens 6-4 7-6(4) in a high-quality duel on Sunday. Wimbledon's new automated line-calling technology came under fire after an embarrassing malfunction robbed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of a point during her last-16 victory over Britain's Sonay Kartal on Centre Court. Spaniard Alcaraz came through a ferocious firefight against Russian 14th seed Andrey Rublev 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 6-4 to stay on course for a third successive title. "Andrey is one of the most powerful players we have on Tour and is so aggressive with the ball. He forces you to the limit on each point," Alcaraz, bidding to become only the fourth man to win back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon titles multiple times, said on court. The 22-year-old second seed extended his current winning streak to 22 matches and will take on Norrie for a place in the semi-finals after the unseeded Briton soaked up 46 aces from towering Chilean Nicolas Jarry to win a feisty Court One battle 6-3 7-6(4) 6-7(7) 6-7(5) 6-3. While Alcaraz seeks a Wimbledon hat-trick, Sabalenka is eyeing her first title on the London lawns after missing last year's tournament with injury and the 2022 edition due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, and the 27-year-old made a fast start against Mertens. Sabalenka, who claimed doubles titles at the US Open and Australian Open partnering Mertens, was then put through the wringer before raising her level to prevail. The victory improved her win-loss record against Belgian Mertens to 11-2 and she said the growing adoration of the crowd made a big difference after fans were on the other side of the fence when she met Raducanu on Friday. "I definitely felt the support. It was so amazing playing and feeling the support. I didn't have to pretend that they were cheering for me because they were really cheering for me," said Sabalenka, who will face the 37-year-old German Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals. "What can be better than that? I really enjoyed it. I hope it can stay the same all the way, and they help me energy-wise to stay strong and to face all of the challenges." HEAVY SHOWERS Siegemund, the second-oldest player to start in the women's draw this year, swatted aside plucky Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra with a 6-3 6-2 victory in a Court Two match interrupted by the heavy showers that prompted organisers to shut the roofs for the day's play on Centre Court and Court One. While Sierra was the first lucky loser to reach the last 16 in the professional era, Siegemund created her own slice of history by becoming the oldest woman to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final. Explaining her run, Siegemund said it was simple. "It's like you have an opponent. Either you find good solutions and you execute well, you go forward, or you don't, and you don't go forward. So it's very simple," she said. Sierra's fellow South American, Jarry, fought back brilliantly against Norrie after saving a match point in the third-set tiebreak but fell short in a needle match. Jarry seemed irritated at times during the heat of battle and the players exchanged words at the end. "Cameron played unbelievable. Not unbelievable, played great. He did his job. He plays like that," said qualifier Jarry, whose total ace count reached a tournament-leading 111. Asked what happened, Norrie said there had been no problem. "I think he just said I was being a little bit too vocal. Honestly, nothing but credit to Nico for his performance. I guess we both really wanted to win." Norrie, a 2022 semi-finalist, is the last British hope after the unseeded Kartal's run ended with a 7-6(3) 6-4 defeat by experienced Russian Pavlyuchenkova. American fifth seed Taylor Fritz marched on after his Australian opponent Jordan Thompson retired with a thigh injury at 6-1 3-0 down in their fourth-round meeting. Up next for Fritz is a meeting with Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov who thumped Poland's Kamil Majchrzak 6-4 6-2 6-3. Fritz is not the only American to reach the quarter-finals, after 13th seed Amanda Anisimova beat Linda Noskova 6-2 5-7 6-4 in the day's final action.
NZ Herald
16 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Wimbledon line-calling tech malfunctions as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claims game was ‘stolen'
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said a game was 'stolen' from her after Wimbledon's electronic line-calling system failed at a key moment in her fourth-round match against Sonay Kartal on Sunday. The Russian put the controversy behind her to beat the British player 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in just over two hours on Centre
Otago Daily Times
19 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Baby Blacks triumph in sweltering heat
New Zealand proved too hot for Georgia in the sweltering Italian heat as they triumphed 38-19 at the under-20 world championship on Saturday. The Baby Blacks, who made a stuttering start to the tournament against the host nation, showed fluidity on attack and discipline on defence after the Georgians scored the opening try following a ruck turnover. New Zealand responded when winger Maloni Kunawave created a turnover, resulting in a quick tap penalty by Oli Mathis, which earned Luka Keshelava a yellow card for a cynical offside tackle. Following another tap, New Zealand quickly moved the ball left with James Cameron delivering a pass to Harlyn Saunoa, who dived into the corner for his side's first try. Georgia scored a try from a maul but much of the rest of the game belonged to the Baby Blacks. Saunoa grabbed his second try on the end of a pass from Southland midfielder Tayne Harvey. When Georgian prop Bachuki Baratashvili was yellow-carded for a second consecutive game for a head-on-head tackle, the New Zealanders pounced. Otago halfback Dylan Pledger sent Mathis thundering into a hole. Mathis transferred back to Pledger, who was tipped over but offloaded from the ground to lock Xavier Tracey to give New Zealand the lead. Eli Oudenryn extended that advantage when he splintered off a maul and stampeded clear for a try, and lock Aissake Vakasiuola gathered a charitable lineout throw and sauntered in to give the Baby Blacks a 31-14 lead at halftime. New Zealand's growing ascendancy was illustrated by the fact that they made 34 of 35 first-half tackles, and Georgia missed 27 tackles. A 43rd-minute pitchside fire briefly held up proceedings but the real heat was on the field as New Zealand flyer Maloni Kunawave scored a nice try. That, however, was the end of the scoring as the game staggered from stoppage to stoppage, the players visibly strained by the searing heat. Rampaging No 8 Micah Fale had a game-high 13 carries for 90m, while New Zealand's wingers combined for five turnovers, a dozen defenders beaten, and 142m gained. The Baby Blacks now play Ireland on Thursday. U20 world championship The scores New Zealand 38 Harlyn Saunoa 2, Xavier Tracey, Eli Oudenryn, Aissake Vakasiuola, Maloni Kunawave tries: Rico Simpson 4 con Georgia 19 Shota Kheladze, Mikheil Shioshvili, Mikheil Khakhubia tries; Luka Takaishvili 2 con Halftime: New Zealand 31-14. — NZ Rugby
