Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson claimed the honours in the second of the three jumping tests at the FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today but it is Switzerland's Beat Mandli and Germany's Marcus Ehning who jointly head the leaderboard going into Sunday's finale, with Ireland's Jessica Kuerten snapping at their heels.

As expected course designer Frank Rothenberger's track sorted out the real jumpers from the rest of the pack with a big, testing course that produced a truly thrilling six-horse jump-off. And to everyone's surprise, the reigning champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum didn't make the final cut when, third-last into the ring, Checkmate hit the first part of the triple combination at fence six to join the five other four-faulters.

"We had a nice start in the first round over fences one and two and then the problems began" said Bengtsson whose 12 year old gelding MacKinley really rose to the occasion today. The combination at six claimed plenty of scalps as did the following oxer at seven, while the curving line to the triple bar at eight proved tricky for some, but it was the final run, on a left-handed turn from the vertical at fence 12 to the big oxer at 13 that was particularly influential - the bushes underneath the oxer creating some exciting moments. A total of 17 horses and riders struggled to find the answers before Frenchman Philippe Leone showed how it should be done with Cyrenaika and subsequently celebrated with a triumphant fist in the air. Leone's presence in the final stages of the FEI World Cup series is all the more creditable because he manages to run his publishing business and still compete at the top level of his chosen sport with considerable success.

Holland's Gerco Schroder and Eurocommerce Milano looked a certain bet for another clear result but a mistake at the second-last cost them dearly and it was Bengtsson who was next to earn a place in the jump-off with MacKinley while Germany's Heinrich Hermann Engemannn followed suit with Aboyeur. Estonia's Gunnar Klettenberg has been showing increasing maturity but was another of those to lose out with a single error from Novesta as once again the penultimate vertical took its toll but it was the very last that put paid to Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst's chances when the normally brave little Candy backed off the final oxer and caught the back bar with her hind legs to leave them out of the deciding round.

Jessica Kuerten (IRL) and Castle Forbes Libertina, 3rd place

Fourth-last to go, Jessica Kuerten and Castle Forbes Libertina never touched a pole however as, once more, they gave a display of classy jumping. Michaels-Beerbaum was next into the ring and there was a gasp from the sidelines when Checkmate kicked out the front element of the combination but Mandli's Ideo du Thot was foot-perfect all the way while Ehning's Sandro Boy was nothing short of spectacular as he once again cruised home with stylish elegance.

First to go against the clock, Leone opted for caution as he recorded the target time of 40.50 that always looked beatable, so Bengtsson was more than six seconds faster when breaking the beam in 34.17. The Swede's partnership with MacKinley is solid as a rock, the gelding always giving of his best and trying his heart out, and despite their best efforts the rest just could not catch them. Engemann clipped the fourth fence for four faults but Kuerten and Libertina were clear and quick - stopping the clock on 34.92. However she said afterward "I saw Rolf's round and thought I just won't beat him today - his horse was so beautifully balanced". Libertina and the remaining two horses Ideo du Thot and Sandro Boy are real exhibitionists so the crowd enjoyed a real treat as the Irish partnership was followed by Mandli and his 10 year old gelding who looked quicker than the leader but only edged out Kuerten as they crossed the line in 34.54 seconds to slot into second.

Beat Mandli (SUI) and Ideo du Thot, 2nd place

"My horse is quite new to this level of jumping" Mandli said, "but he gave me a super feeling yesterday, he felt fantastic in the first round today and he was so easy to ride that I decided to try in the jump-off.

We were very fast to the last fence and I thought I was faster than Rolf-Goran but I took a pull and ended up adding two more strides so I think I lost it there" he explained.

Last to go Ehning asked Sandro Boy to push on, but the big horse responded to the pressure by going higher and higher over his fences and while it was a sheer joy to watch it cost fractions of time that saw them having to settle for fourth spot despite a truly thrilling gallop to the last.

The stage is now set for a thrilling finale in Sunday's two-round decider. Joint-leaders Mandli and Ehning start out with a zero score while Kuerten carries just one point as the class begins, but it will take just a single mistake from any of the first three to put Bengtsson and Michaels-Beerbaum - carrying four points each - right back in the game. And Frank Rothenberger will not make it easy to claim the

2005/2006 FEI World Cup title.

"The level of sport in today's competition was absolutely stunning"

said Kuerten, "but I expect Sunday's course will be very, very demanding and it's extremely open, you could quickly find yourself way down the line if you make a mistake". It is still all to play for.....

Result: 1, MacKinley (Rolf Goran Bengtsson) Swe 0/0 34.17; 2, Ideo du Thot (Beat Mandli) Sui 0/0 34.54; 3, Castle Forbes Libertina (Jessica

Kuerten) Irl 0/0 34.92; 4, Sandro Boy (M Ehning) Ger 0/0 35.21; 5, Cyrenaika FRH (Philippe Leoni) Fra 0/0 40.50; 6, Aboyeur W (Heinrich Hermann Engemann) Ger 0/4 35.42; equal 7, Eurocommerce Milano (Gerco

Schroder) Ned, Novesta (Gunnar Klettenberg) Est, Loro Piana Albin (Juan Carlos Garcia) Ita, Candy (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) Ger, Checkmate (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) Ger 4 flts; 12, Ilion Kileh (Ljubov

Kochetova) Rus 6 flts; equal 13, Special Ed (Jill Henselwood) Can, Cattani (Geir Gulliksen) Nor, Quatro (Abdullah Al Sharbatly) KSA, JPC Modesto Equifoam (Jean-Marc Nicolas) Fra, Camaron Hills Shanroe (Richard Spooner) USA, Judgement (Beezie Madden) USA, Anthem (Laura

Kraut) USA, Secret Love (Alison Firestone) USA, Hofgut Liederbach's Abrisca (Pia-Luise Aufrecht) Ger, Insul Tech Portofino (Michael

Whitaker) GBR, Querbo Gold (Margie Engle) USA 8 faults; 24, Cellist (Ali Nilforushan) Iri 9 faults; 25, Lavita (Alberto Michan) Mex 13 faults; equal 26, Suncal's King (Joie Gatlin) USA, Kalusha (Robert

Smith) GBR 16 faults; 28, Kayak van het Gravenhof (Michelle Cojuangco Berrera0 phi, ritus (Grzegorz Kubiak) Pol, Millar (Guillermo Obligado) Arg 20 faults; 31, Lui (Syed Omar Abu Bakar Almohdzar) Mas 29 faults; 32, Fall Khaeer (Ramsy Al Duhamy) KSA Retired.

Points after the second final competition - Beat Mandli/Marcus Ehning 0; Jessica Kuerten 1; Rolf-Goran Bengtsson/Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum 4; Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst 5; /Heinrich Hermann Engemann/Juan Carlos Garcia 6; Gunnar Klettenberg 7; Philippe Leoni 8; Gerco Schroder 9; Margie Engle/Michael Whitaker 10; Pia-Luise Aufrecht 13; Alison Firestone 14; Laura Kraut/Robert Smith 15; Ljubov Kochetova/Beezie Madden/Richard Spooner 16; Jean-Marc Nicolas 17; Abdullah Al Sharbatly 20; Geir Gulliksen 21; Jill Henselwood/Joie Gatlin 22; Alberto Michan/Guillermo Obligado 23; Ali Nilforushan 24; Grzegorz Kubiak 25; Michelle Cojuangco Berrera/Syed Omar Abu Bakar Almohdzar 29.

(mobile) +6012 209 0068. Show Director is Peter Winton, email paw@asiapromote.net.

2005/2006 FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING SERIES - CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

1, Helsinki (Finland) - 6/9 October; 2, Oslo (Norway) - 14/16 October; 3, Verona (Italy) - 4/6 November; 4, Stuttgart (Ger) - 16/20 November; 5, Geneva (Switzerland) - 8/11 December; 6, London-Olympia (Great

Britain) - 13-19 December; 7, Mechelen (Belgium) - 26/30 December; 8, Leipzig (Germany) 19/22 January; 9, Bordeaux (France) - 3/5 February; 10, Vigo (Spain) - 9/12 February; 11, 's-Hertogenbosch (The

Netherlands) - 23/26 March; 12, Goteborg (Sweden) - 13/16 April. Final Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 26/30 April.

MBPtv BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR FEI WORLD CUP FINAL AT KUALA LUMPUR:

LIVE:

ARD (Germany) - Sunday 30 April 10.00

SVT (Sweden) - Thurs 27 April 19.25, Friday 28 April 17.30, Sunday

30 April 22.35

TVE Teledeporte (Spain) - Check local service

RAI (Italy) - Thurs 27 April 19.25, Friday 28 April 17.00, Sunday

30 April 10.25, 17.20

Equidia (France) - Sunday 30 April 20.45, Monday 1 May 11.30

Eurosport - Thurs 27 April 14.00, Friday 28 April 14.00, Sunday 30

April 08.45, 10.30

NRK Norway - Sunday 30 April 16.45

NOS (The Netherlands) - Sunday 30 April, 16.00

HIGHLIGHTS

CNBC ASIA - Check local service

ESPN Star (Pan Asia) - Thurs 11 may 11.00, Friday 12 May 06.00,

Saturday 13 May 02.00, 07.00, 15.00, Monday 15 May 03.00,

- Tuesday 16 May 12, 19.00, Wednesday 17 May 05.00, 09.00, 16.30

ESPN Brazil - Check local service

Finnish Sport TV - Monday 8 May 18.00, Monday 15 May 18.00

Fox Sports Australia - Check local service

Fox Sports Middle East - Sunday 21 May 15.00

Horse TV USA - Saturday 27 May 20.00, 23.00, Sunday 28 May 05.00,

07.00, 16.00, 22.00, Monday 29 May 01.00, 14.00

M-Net Pan Africa - Saturday 13 May 00.00, Sunday 14 May 02.30.

TSI (Switzerland) - Check local service

VIASAT SPORTS (Denmark)- Check local service.

FEI World Cup Jumping has entered its 29th year. The series, created in 1978, today comprises 13 leagues on all continents. The best riders from 116 World Cup preliminary competitions will qualify for the Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which takes place from 26 to 30 April 2006.

The title-holder is Germany's Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum.

The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), founded in 1921, is the international body governing equestrian sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and includes 133 National Federations.

Equestrian sport has been on the Olympic programme since 1912 with three disciplines - Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. It is one of the very few sports in which men and women compete on equal terms. It is also the only sport which involves two athletes - horse and rider - and the FEI has relentlessly concerned itself with the welfare of the horse.

For more information contact: