HORSE SPORT IRELAND: IRISH TRIO IN BID FOR WORLD CUP POINTS IN HUNGARY AND RUSSIA

Source: News Release/Colin McClelland

IRISH TRIO IN BID FOR WORLD CUP POINTS IN HUNGARY AND RUSSIA

THE IRISH modern pentathlon trio of Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe, Eanna Bailey and Natalya Coyle are now on a fortnight's trip to Hungary and Russia where they will contest two World Cup competitions.

The athletes will be looking to secure points that could see them qualify for the World Cup Final to be held in China in May, and also to boost their Olympic ranking positions.

Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe was on impressive form for the first two World Cups of 2012 where he qualified for the finals in both competitions. Lanigan-O’Keeffe performed well in his first ever world cup final, finishing 25th in the USA World Cup and then going even better in the Brazilian competition where he finished 20th. A repeat performance in Hungary or Russia should see him secure a place in the World Cup Final where valuable Olympic ranking points are on offer in May.

Natalya Coyle also impressed by qualifying for both finals and finishing in 18th and 32nd respectively. Coyle also finished 18th in a World Cup event in 2011 will be looking to improve her highest finishing positions at the next two world cup events. Coyle, who is currently in a good ranking position for Olympic qualification, will need to ensure she qualifies for the World Cup Final in May to strengthen her chances of being on the start line come August.

Eanna Bailey recovered from a poor competition in the USA World Cup to narrowly miss out on final qualification at the World Cup in Brazil where he finished 15th with the top 12 making the cut. Bailey’s confidence will be growing, after making the final at the Budapest Cup and finishing 14th, as he looks to qualify for his first final at World Cup level.

There will be 74 women and 103 men competing in the Budapest World Cup and a similar number of athletes expected at the Rostov World Cup.

The competition schedule is as follows:

World Cup 3 – Budapest, Hungary
Thursday 11th April – Women’s Qualification
Friday 12th April – Men’s Qualification
Saturday 13th April – Women’s Final
Sunday 14th April – Men’s Final

World Cup 4 – Rostov, Russia
Thursday 19th April – Women’s Qualification
Friday 20th April – Men’s Qualification
Saturday 21st April – Women’s Final
Sunday 22nd April – Men’s Final