Anticipation was palpable in the air of the Palexpo as the CHI Geneva’s passionate and knowledgeable crowd prepared for the 22nd running of the prestigious Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final. The innovative and globally-renowned class, often compared to the Nitto ATP Finals in tennis, saw the world’s top 10 ranked riders compete against each other over two rounds, to be crowned the champion of champions.

It was a truly international field, with the ten riders coming from eight different nations. This stellar list of athletes included last year’s winner of the class and World No.1, Henrik von Eckermann, the current live contender of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, Martin Fuchs, as well as the individual Olympic gold medallist Ben Maher. Prior to the competition, the crowd was treated to the traditional parade of riders, which only added to the excitement and sensational atmosphere of the main arena.

With both rounds counting and faults accumulating, pressure was on riders from the moment that they cantered into the ring. In the opening round, riders went in reverse order of ranking meaning that it was Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam, a newcomer in the class, who was first to tackle the 1.60m course. Sweetnam produced a foot-perfect round to set the standard for the nine remaining riders. A number of riders struggled to match this, with favourites such as Simon Delestre having eight faults and both Harrie Smolders and Max Kühner accruing twelve faults. Julien Epaillard kept himself in contention with a typically fast round with only one fence falling.

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