With just four faults to her scoreline, collected at the water jump in the second round, Wong found herself in a two-way battle with New Zealand’s Samantha McIntosh for the individual qualifying spot.

Breaking the beam in 36.38 seconds, the 26-year-old was more than three seconds quicker than the considerably more experienced Kiwi contender.

"Sam was my trainer for a long time so I had very mixed feelings about the fact that we were up against each other," said Netherlands-based rider Wong.

"We would always both want the best for each other, but today I had to be her rival on the field of play.

"I didn’t see her round against the clock so I just tried to be as fast as I could."

Talking about her 11-year-old Dutch mare, Zadarijke V, Wong said: "I got her two years ago, she was competing with a young rider and had never done anything very big.

"She’s bred for dressage, not jumping, but from the very start we were the perfect match.

"We have formed a great partnership, and I have to thank her for everything."

The Australians held the lead on an eight-fault scoreline at the end of the first round, but they only had a single-point advantage over the Japanese in second place.

The three-member Hong Kong side of Reanea Leung, Kenneth Cheng and Jacqueline Lai were next in line with 24 on the board, while Chinese Taipei brought up the rear with 39.

The Philippines were also only a three-strong side, with Lucas Lorenzo’s elimination leaving them on the sidelines at the halfway stage.

It was three superb second-round clears that clinched pole position for Japan as Toshiki Masiu recovered from a 12-fault first effort to leave the course completely intact second time out with Taloubetdarco KZ, while Daisuke Fukushima and Cornet added nothing to their four-fault first effort.

Tadahiro Hayashi and Corana’s M&M collected five faults on their first tour of the arena but after being foot-perfect in round two, the Japanese had already sealed their berth for Rio, meaning Taizo Sugitani and Avenzio, clear in round one, didn’t have to go again.

Australian anchor Jamie Kermond didn’t compete either in the second half, with his country’s passage to Rio already secured owing to the rest of the opposition having disappeared from the reckoning.  

Elimination for Leung put paid to Hong Kong’s chances, while only Jasmine Chen and Wong completed for Chinese Taipei after Po-Hsaing Huang, who was eliminated in round one, didn’t return to the ring, and Tina Lu was eliminated during her second effort.

"Our aim was to win and to qualify for Rio and we did exactly what we came here to do," said Japanese Chef d’Equipe, Hirokazu Higashira.

A total of 27 athletes from 12 nations - Australia, Brunei, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, China, the Philippines, Korea, Singapore and Thailand - lined out in the competition staged at Hof Kasselmann.

There were five countries in contention for the team qualification, in what was the biggest ever Group G qualifier.



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