The 7th Longines Beijing Equestrian Masters, the CSI3* Equestrian event marked by FEI and presented by Dashing Equine had its last day’s show at the National Stadium“Birds Nest”. The Beijing Masters is a classic equestrian event held by China Equestrian Association and the National Stadium (“the Birds Nest”). It was also co-produced by Dashing Equine, the Operation Team of the world top equestrian event CHIO Aachen along with Mr. Ludger Beerbaum, who was known as “the father of equestrian in Germany”. The Longines watches continue to be the titled sponsor of the event and serve as the official timer for the competition, while BMW be the Diamond Sponsor and serve as the official vehicle. As a CSI3* equestrian event, the Longines Beijing Equestrian Masters is at the same time the first top international equestrian event which has been held in the Birds Nest for seven years in a row.
Today’s competitions were for two final awards. The riders with their beloved horses were dashing for the individual prizes of the last two competitions BMW Elite Class Final(130-135cm) and Longines Grand Prix(145-150cm).
Event Roundup
BMW Elite Class Final (130-135cm)
After the two day’s intense competition, both riders and their horses reached to their best state. Throughout the game, it was full of frightening surprises and rounds of applause. After the first round of final, 6 rider and horse pairs continued to compete in the jump-off. Finally, Bianba Ciren with his horse MONTENDRO from the Team Tibet won the big prize with perfection. Well-known rider Qiaolun Bate from Team Guangdong with the horse Harifu won the second place while Vincent Vermeulen from V-horse took the third.
Longines Grand Prix (145-150cm)
As Longines Grand Prix (145-155cm) being the last game of this year’s Masters, it was definitely the competition of the hardest level. Top23 Chinese riders with 11 well-known international riders took part in the Grand Prix to compete for the big prize. The ‘’4 Times Gold Medal Winner” of the National Games Mr. Liang Ruiji from Guangdong led all Chinese riders to the competition. Among all the international riders, Mr. Ludger Beerbaum, known as “the Father of Equestrian in Germany” once again led great international horsemen including FEI 6th place German rider Mr. Christian Ahlmann and FEI 9th place Spanish rider Mr. Sergio Moya. Also, German rider Mr. Marcus Ehning, Swedish rider Mr. Henrik Von Eckermann and lots more excellent riders that the world’s equestrian fans love to talk about all revealed their excellence at the Birds Nest.
Longines Grand Prix was composed of two parts, preliminary and jump-up. Riders qualified to take part in jump-off are the ones with zero penalty in the preliminary, which requires excellent cooperation between the horses and riders with no mistake. Also, the route designed for the game with the height of 155cm and serial obstacles made it extremely challenging for both riders and horses technically and mentally. Therefore, all the viewers remained quiet and calm during the whole game. Rounds of applause only burst out after the rider and horse passed all the obstacles.
After the preliminary, 11 rider and horse pairs reached to the even more difficult and intense jump-off. Finally, well-known Swedish rider Henrik Von Eckermann won the Grand Prix with proficient skills and unbelievable speed. American rider Lauren Hough and German rider Christian Ahlmann won the second and the third place. Chinese Inner Mongolian rider Da Rima got the highest score among all Chinese riders, which ranked 4th in the Grand Prix.
Award Ceremony
On the following award ceremony, Longines ambassador of elegance Ms. Lin Zhilin with the Vice President and International Marketing Director of Longines Mr. Juan-Carlos Capelli, the Vice President of Longines China Mr. Dennis Li and President of Dashing Equine Ms. Li Jing awarded the prizes to the champions along with the masterpiece of Longines dedicated watch, to praise the excellent skills and elegant style they presented during the competitions.
There were two new awards set up for the Beijing Masters this time, which are the Annual Rookie’s Award and the MVP Award. They were set up to praise the outstanding riders. The Rookie’s Award aims at complimenting the new forces of the Chinese equestrian and selecting the excellent young Chinese riders. This prize will also be descended to the following years as a regular award for the Masters. The first Rookie’s Award was awarded to the young post 2000s generation’s rider Miss. Zhang Yifan. She is a 18 year-old girl who had rich experiences of taking part in the Masters. This year she took part in three competitions including the Team Championships, Longines Grand Prix and BMW Jump and Drive Competition with her horses E-JEWLS ENERGY and Erecto B. She was adored by the audiences with her excellent and stable skills.
The MVP Award is aimed to award the most outstanding Chinese riders at this year’s Beijing Masters. And it went to Inner Mongolian rider Da Rima who had excellent performance this time. While competing with all the top international riders, Da Rima remained calm and cooperated well with his horse and demonstrated his proficient skills and steady mentality. Finally he reached the 4th place among all riders while being the top of all Chinese riders. His excellence earned all the respect from the audiences.
Spotlights
Opening Ceremony
Longines Moment
The Longines Moment has always been the most glamorous part before Longines Grand Prix every year. The Vice President and International Marketing Director of Longines Mr. Juan-Carlos Capelli, the Vice President of Longines China Mr. Dennis Li along with Longines ambassador of elegance Mr. Lin Zhilin, superstar Zhang Han, Huang Jingyu and New-generation actress Miao Miao and Li Qin showed up at the Longines Moment to cheer up for the final game and enlightened the Birds Nest with starry night, which added more glamour to the Masters.
Pony Cosplay
This year’s Masters introduced the juvenile-fantastic Pony Cosplay to the Birds Nest. 5 cute young riders rode their fancily decorated ponies around the stadium and cosplayed themselves into super heroes such as Spider Man, Captain America and Optimus Prime, etc. These 10 years or less old riders found confidence and joy from the equestrian learning as well as their dreams for the future. We wish to see their performances in the future Masters. The Pony Cosplay could be considered as a milestone for the idea of universal equestrian of all ages.
Equine Park
The spectacular competition went on inside the stadium while there is also excitement to be found outside. The Equine Park opened today from 11 o’clock has prepared interactive activities for people of all ages. All the guests visiting the Equine Park could go have fun and enjoy food and drinks at all stands with the Equestrian Passport, to get a full experience of life which equestrian fashion brings.
The first attraction you might spot entering the Equine Park is the elegant Carousels build by Longines. It had its debut at the Birds Nest from Europe, which allows the audiences to appreciate the classic chronometers between the elegant equestrian events. BMW China also contributed a lot to the Masters. The car lovers can find fascinations here. Apart from its pioneer BMW 7 and M760Li Series, BMW provided the brand new BMW 5 Series Li to be served as the official vehicle. The audiences could analyze how BMW builds the “modern luxury” in terms of designing aesthetics, high-end interior decorations, intelligent driving, material application and so forth. CASTEL brought pure French red wines and shared classes with all the guests at scene. Also, you could enjoy the fine coffee provided by Melitta and five-star cuisines from Rosewood Hotel. Try out the high-tech equipped horseman spirit at Segway and build your “Chivalry” at CHEVAL Saddlery.
As for children, there are plenty of locations to see and have fun. Children could learn some knowledge in driving with joy at BMW Children’s Traffic Safety Education. Dashing Equine united with UCCA Studio to build the teenage equestrian art district for the children to listen to the sound of nature. And of course, you could also experience the Pony amusement park of the Youth Olympic Park and find out your equestrian skills while spending a great time with family at the Birds Nest.
As a new sponsor, the international applied software and solution provider SAP provided the most powerful software support for the Beijing Masters. Turkish Airline as another official sponsor devoted to the Masters with passionate and protection. Thanks to the support from the city department of tourism of Abu Dhabi and the cultural development department, as well as the only cooperative bank partner Bank of Beijing Private Banking. Ganten brought its high-end brand Blairquhan highly supported the Masters. The exclusive cooperative partner of insurance, the innovative technology insurance company Charming Insurance provides safety insurance for all riders.
The second day of the Beijing Masters full of passion and joy in the neighing of horses, the fine fragrance of the wine, the laughter of the audiences and the playful sounds of the children. Everyone holds the excitement for the arrival of the final day of Beijing Masters.
Great ending
After the award ceremony, the great soprano Ms. Li Tang showed up once again and drew a perfect ending for the 7th Longines Equestrian Beijing Masters with her performance. The beautiful song of “Memory” inscribed the greatness of the event deeply into the still-rattling heart and memory of every competitor and every audience.
About Longines Equestrian Beijing Masters
As a CSI3* equestrian event marked by the FEI, the Longines Equestrian Beijing Masters had its first show at the Birds Nest in 2011 and had its grand retuen in 2012. The Beijing Masters is so far a top international equestrian event of the highest level in China.
The Longines Equestrian Beijing Masters was held by Chinese Equestrian Association, and the National Stadium. It is also an international event co-produced by Dashing Equine with the operation team of world top equestrian event CHIO-AACHEN- ART as well as Mr. Ludger Beerbaum, who’s known as “the father of equestrian in Germany”. Apart from that, the Beijing Masters kept its tradition of an opening ceremony and show-jumping competition at night, which makes it pleasant to watch. This is not only the highest platform for both Chinese and international riders to compete but also a fashion party which combines all sorts of interactive activities. The equestrian carnival held differently every year promotes the equestrian culture as well as the idea of universal equestrian.
About Longines
Longines was found in Sait-Imier in Switzerland in 1832. The brand carries its inherited delicacy, tradition, elegance and extraordinary functions to reach its watch manufacturing specialization. Longines has been the official timer of world championships and the cooperative partners of International association of Physical Culture and Sports Federations, which gave itself rich experiences and glorious traditions. Longines has been supporting the elegant equestrian sport for a long time and building its bond to the elegance. Longines is a well-known brand under the world leading watch manufacturer SWATCH, who’s known for its delicate timing products to the world. The logo of the winged hourglass has left its mark in more than 150 countries.
About BMW
BMW is one of the most successful car and motorcycle manufacturers of the world, which includes BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce. It provides car finance as well as high-end traveling services for its clients. As a transnational company, BMW possess 31 manufacturing and reassembling factories in 14 countries, while their products were sold to more than 140 countries and regions. In 2015, BMW has sold around 2,247,000 cars and 137,000 motorcycles around the world. The profit BMW made before tax from 2015 is around 9.22 billion euros, while the sales revenue reached to 92.18 billion euros. Till the end of 2015, the faculty of BMW reached to 122,244. The success of BMW is based on its precautions and responsibilities. Therefore, BMW carries the ecological and social sustainability in their values. As all-around product responsibilities and clear energy-saving promises have been set as an important part of BMW’s long-term strategies.
About CASTEL
CASTEL was by Pierre Castel in 1949 along with eight of his siblings in Bordeaux, France. They have distributed all their efforts to promote French wine to the world. Castel Maison have always been holding the wishes to share the love of wine with everyone else, as well as the belief of producing the finest wine to fulfill clients and customers’ needs. Castel Maison’s history is full of glories, and now it has gradually become the biggest wine manufacturer in France and Europe. Since 1998 when it entered the Chinese market, it has been dedicated to promoting French wine culture as well as paying great attention to the development of Chinese sports.
About Dashing Equestrian
Dashing Equestrian was found in 2010. At the beginning of its establishment, it held the first international equestrian event in China successfully at the Birds Nest with Mr. Ludger Beerbaum who’s known as “the father of equestrian in Germany”. The 2012 CHIO Aachen’s operation team ART cooperated with Dashing Equestrian started the internationalization of the Longines Equestrian Beijing Masters, in which the great Swiss brand watch Longines successfully titled the event and served as the official timer. The Longines Equestrian Beijing Masters will be held at the Birds Nest till 2020 at least. At moment, Dashing Equestrian has reorganizes the advantageous resources domestically and internationally from all aspects in the equestrian industry. Its core business includes the running and developing of the sports events, the representatives of the riders, the media, the operating and managing of equestrian clubs as well as the importing and merchandising of the horses and saddlery. Dashing believes in this eco-equestrian business chain which allows them to push Chinese equestrian to the higher international level and cultivate the best Chinese riders as well as elites in managing equestrian events.