Equestrian News:A single fence down denied Cameron Hanley a place in the jump-off for Saturday night's Belgian World Cup qualifier in Mechelen, but the Mayo man still picked up nine points for a 10th-place finish that has boosted him up to 27th in the western European league, a slot he shares with compatriot Jessica Kurten.

Despite his disappointment at missing the cut, Hanley's single-fence fault was a better result than that recorded by world number four, Kurten, who returned with eight with Castle Forbes Libertina.

Eight went through to Mechelen's timed decider and it was the host nation's Dirk Demeersman, first into the ring, who set his rivals an impossible target. Clear in 36.81 seconds, Demeersman made his debut outing of the 2006/'07 season count by leading a Belgian whitewash to claim the winner's Land Rover and jump straight into 18th place in the western European league.

Hanley and Kurten have 13 World Cup points apiece, but will need to make more of an impact in the 2007 series of qualifiers, which get under way at Leipzig on January 21st, if they are to book themselves a ticket to the April final in Las Vegas.