A clear final round by Andre Thieme won Germany the third FEI Jumping Nations Cup of the season in Sopot ©Getty Images

Germany won the third leg of the Longines International Equestrian Federation (FEI) Jumping Nations Cup 2021 series at Sopot in Poland today.

Although Marcus Ehning and Funky Fred produced an uncharacteristic drop-score for the German team, victory was sealed by double-clear performances from Maurice Tebbel with Don Diarado, Christian Kukuk with Mumbai and Andre Thieme partnering DSP Chakaria.

Thieme’s second clear in this put all the pressure on Belgium’s last-to-go, Niels Bruynseels.

Belgium's Niels Bruynseels narrowly failed to produce the final clear round required to prevent Germany winning their first FEI Jumping Nations Cup event of the season in Sopot today ©Getty Images
Belgium's Niels Bruynseels narrowly failed to produce the final clear round required to prevent Germany winning their first FEI Jumping Nations Cup event of the season in Sopot today ©Getty Images

The Belgian rider needed to match his foot-perfect run from Delux van T&L in order to maintain a zero scoreline for his country and force a jump-off.

However two down put paid to Belgian chances, and they lined up second carrying just four faults while Ireland, Norway and Britain all collected 16 faults to fill the next three places ahead of France, the United States, Morocco, Poland and Italy.

Germany finished second behind Sweden after a jump-off in the opening Nations Cup event of the series at St Gallen in Switzerland on June 6, and a clear round by Beat Mandli earned Switzerland victory in the second event at La Baule in France on June 11.

The seven-leg series will culminate with the return of the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final in Barcelona in October.