It turned out to be an anti-climax in the end! The much-anticipated showdown between Rolf-G?ran Bengtsson and Edwina Tops-Alexander for the Global Champions Tour title proved to be a no show after the latter suffered a horror night at the Al Shaqab yesterday.
Bengtsson, though, was not complaining, as the Swede fulfilled a long-cherished dream to clinch the overall title with his extraordinary 17-year-old stallion Casall ASK. Tops-Alexander was aiming to create history as she was gunning to become the first rider to win three titles.
But the Australian crumbled under pressure as she and her 13-year-old bay mare Lintea Tequila made a shock exit in the first round, committing an astonishing eight faults.
With weight of expectations off his shoulder, the 54-year-old Bengtsson went on to clinch the Grand Prix of Doha, the final leg of the Global Champions Tour.
Watched on by the Qatari royal family, Bengtsson and Casall ASK put on a classy display of accuracy and finesse.
“You can say it’s an evening one dreams of,” said a beaming Bengtsson. “It’s a credit to my horse how he makes everything possible. I’m very very happy to have won the overall title. I was lucky to arrive in Doha with a five-point lead and it was a close finish. At age 17 what Casall ASK has done for me is really amazing. I shall see how he does from here and maybe we can still continue a bit more,” the newly-crowned champion added.
It was a culmination of a consistent season with Casall for Bengtsson, with the pair securing wins in Valkenswaard and Paris and podium finishes at other stops of the 15-leg tour, which started in April.
Bengtsson was richer by €148,500 on the night. His dominant performance in the season also propelled him into pole position in the ranking as he took the lion’s share of the €1mn bonus prize money as he takes his place in GCT history.
For the record, Bengtsson finished with 283 points, 16 more than Tops-Alexander’s 267. Christian Ahlmann of Germany completed the podium, finishing third with 239 points.
Tops-Alexander was naturally not in good spirits after faltering when it mattered most. “I’m overall very happy, but disappointed with myself about today. My horse went offline at the double and maybe we should’ve stuck to my earlier plan. I’m second because of a reason that Rolf deserved to win,” the 42-year-old Aussie said.
Ahlmann too doffed his hat to Bengtsson for clinching the title. “I’m very happy with the show. I had two great rounds but it came to the jump off in the end. My horse was down a bit because we also had the Olympics this year, but I’m very happy with the third place. Rolf surely deserves to be the champion,” the German said.
The second position in the Grand Prix of Doha went to Germany’s Daniel Deusser (First Class van Eeckelghem), while the third place was taken by his compatriot Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Fibonacci).
Earlier, in the final CSI5* Olympic gold medallist John Whitaker of Britain took the top honours with his stallion Argento. The two legends of the sport put in a masterful display of horsemanship and skill, beating an international field of world class riders in a 22 rider jump-off with €270,000 prize purse on offer.
Maikel van der Vleuten of Netherland delivered a masterful round, making brave turns in VDL Groep Quatro to tackle the 1.50/1.55m fences, while finishing second.
Germany’ Daniel Deusser and Happiness van T Paradijs looked set to upset the order, however couldn’t match Whitaker’s time of 37.46 second, ending the class in third overall.
Qatar’s top rider Sheikh Ali bin Khalid al-Thani rode a stunning round with grey stallion Imperio Egipcio Milton, putting in an excellent time of 39.38s much to the delight of the local crowd. But he had to be content with seventh place.
It was a good day for Qatar’s Ali Yousef al-Rumaihi, who also jumped double clear in the high octane jump off and finished eighth.
Meanwhile, Omar al-Mannai Commercial Manager of Al Shaqab revealed that the magnificent arena will host Global Champions tour for another three years.
“We are happy to host the Global Champions Tour in Doha and the exposure and experience we gain is immense. We have reached an agreement with Jan Tops (President and Founder of GCT) and we are announcing that we shall have it for another three years at Al Shaqab,” al-Mannai said.
 
Results
Class 04: Doha 2016 CSI5* 1.60m
Table A: Two Rounds with Jump-Off,
1st and 2nd Round Against the Clock
1. Rolf-G?ran Bengtsson (Sweden) Casall ASK. Time: 36.44 secs. Prize money: 148,500 euros
2. Daniel Deusser (Germany)
First Class van Eeckelghem. 36.84 secs. 90,000 euros
3. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum
(Germany) Fibonacci. 37.26 secs. 67,500 euros
Class 03: Doha 2016 CSI5* 1.50/1.55m
Table A: Against the Clock with
Jump-Off
1. John Whitaker (Great Britain)
Argento. 37.46 secs. 89,100 euros
2. Maikel van der Vleuten (Netherlands) VDL Groep Quatro. 37.61 secs.
54,000 euros
3. Daniel Deusser (Germany) Happiness van T Paradijs. 37.86 secs.
40,500 euros
Class N 6: Doha 2016 Invitational 1.35/1.40m
Two Phases: A + A, Both Phases
Against the Clock
1. Salman Mohamed A S al-Emadi (Qatar) Zorro Z. 22.83 secs. 6,600
riyals
2. Mubarak Yousuf A S al-Rumaihi (Qatar) SIEC Cosmos Wijngaardhoeve Z. 23.95 secs. 4,000
3. Khalifa Abdulaziz J A al-Thani (Qatar) Sidoline van de Centaur.
24.47secs. 3,000
Class N 5: Doha 2016 Invitational 1.20/1.25m
Two Phases: A + A, Both Phases
Against the Clock
1. Abdullah al-rajhi (Saudi Arabia)
H Zoe. 22.61 secs. 4,950 riyals
2. Ahmed Mohamed A M al-Badi
(Qatar) Latino 291. 23.29 secs. 3,000
3. Hamad Nasser al-Qadi (Qatar)
St. Lucia. 24.42 secs. 2,250