18 augustus 2009

Kecskemét welcomes carriage driving world

From 19 to 23 August, the city of Kecskemét, Hungary, welcomes the carriage driving world for the 13th edition of the FEI World Pairs Driving Championship. Kecskemét, 90 kilometers from the capital city Budapest, hosted three FEI World Championships before; in 1978 and 2004 the FEI World four-in-hand Championship and in 1999 the World Pair Championship.

Numbers
Seventy-one drivers from twenty one nations will compete in the Championship. Eighteen nations teams will battle for the team medals.

Medal defenders
Reigning World Pair Champion Vilmos Lázár, who also won the gold medal in 1999 in Kecskemét and 2001 in Riesenbeck, will be part of the Hungarian team that defends its silver medal.
The 2007 silver individual medallist Sebastian Warneck made a large contribution to the German team gold in 2007 and will also be part of the team again in Kecskemét.
Hungary’s Károly Hodi won the bronze individual medal two years ago but will not be present in Kecskemét this year.

Officials
Austria’s Christian Iseli, who was also responsible for the course at the World Pair Driving Championship in Svettl in 1991 and Poznan 1995, the 2004 World Four-in-Hand Championship in Kecskemét and the World Single Driving Championships 2006 and 2008, is once again responsible for the course design in Kecskemét. The Jury is chaired by Diana Brownlie from Great Britain and is completed by Peter Bonhof from the Netherlands, Dr. Klaus Christ from Germany, Marsoe Larose from Canada and József Borka from Hungary.

Programme
Wednesday, 19th August:
10.00 hrs.: veterinary inspection
13.30 hrs.: presentation
19.00 hrs.: opening ceremony

Thursday, 20th August:
10.00 hrs.: dressage (first part)
19.00 hrs.: World Championship Kecskemét 2009 Party

Friday, 21st August:
10.00 hrs.: dressage (second part)
17.30 hrs.: prize giving ceremony
21.00 hrs.: Grooms Party

Saturday, 22nd August:
09.00 hrs.: marathon
19.00 hrs.: Prize giving ceremony
20.00 hrs.: Grooms Party

Sunday, 23rd August:
09.00 hrs.: obstacle driving
17.50 hrs: Prize giving ceremony obstacle driving, combined competition individuals & teams
Closing ceremony