Martin Fuchs clearly missed his goal at the World Jumping Championships in Herning. In position (4th) to seek a medal before the final round, the rider from Zurich fell to a disappointing 11th final rank.
Victory went to Swede Henrik von Eckermann with his mount King Edward. The world number one achieved a 5th consecutive clear round in these Worlds: the title could not escape him.
Fuchs lost his illusions from the first of his two Sunday runs, which was relatively easy since two thirds of the finalists completed it without fail. But Leone Jei dropped a bar on an oxer. The Swiss was thus in 8th provisional place before the last round.
He could certainly still speculate on possible errors of his higher ranked opponents. But the 2018 vice-world champion could not put pressure on his rivals as he made two mistakes.
Schwizer, Schmitz and Guerdat plus loin
Pius Schwizer, with Vancouver of Lanlore, qualified narrowly for the final. His clear round in the 1st round did not allow him to climb into the top 12 to play in the final. The sexagenarian finished in 14th place.
Edouard Schmitz (36th / Quno) and Steve Guerdat (40th / Venard de Cerisy) had missed their qualification on Friday evening.
ats/tzing