Peter Kauzer (SLO, K1M) and Benjamin Savsek (SLO, C1M) delivered victory in front of a jubilant home crowd, whilst Kimberly Woods (GBR, C1M) topped off an excellent day for the British team at the 2016 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Finals in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
At the semifinal stage the course was shortened due to a crack in the concrete of the freshly installed lower section that made it unsafe to compete beyond gate 14.
The crack gifted an unexpected lifeline for some of the C1M paddlers with the officials deciding that the fault could have had an impact on competitor’s times and provided the five next best a chance to compete in the final.
With a new finish line and less gates to traverse the balance swung in the favour of the more explosive competitors.
Savsek was the first of those to deliver as he put together a faultless and exceptionally impressive run to overhaul the series leader, Alexander Slafkovsky (SVK).
However, Slaftovsky’s silver provided the tall and softly spoken Slovakian enough points to secure the season’s top honours.
Casey Eichfeld (USA), the fastest at the semifinal stage, took bronze.
On any other day and on any other course Bradley Forbes-Cryans’ (GBR, Silver) flawless and fast run would have been enough to secure gold, but the Slovenian legend Kauzer used all his local knowledge and experience to secure victory ahead of the young Brit in the K1 Men’s class.
Japan’s Kazuya Adachi announced himself on the world stage with bronze; further highlighting his nations progression in paddle sport ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games.
A fourth place for Mathieu Biazizzo (FRA) provided the required points for him to take the season’s top spot.
A familiar trio headed up the C1W final, but with a reshuffle that provided Woods victory ahead of her two main adversaries – Jessica fox (AUS, Silver) and Mallory Franklin (GBR, Bronze).
The young Brit, who will also compete in the K1W and Slalom Cross this weekend, edged ahead of her rivals with a clean run.
The bronze for Franklin meant that she amassed enough points to win the C1W series title.
More to follow...
K1 Men Final
1 Peter KAUZER (SLO) 0 69.89
2 Bradley FORBES-CRYANS (GBR) 0 70.17 +0.28
3 Kazuya ADACHI (JPN) 0 72.38 +2.49
C1 Women Final
1 Kimberley WOODS (GBR) 0 85.40
2 Jessica FOX (AUS) 2 86.32 +0.92
3 Mallory FRANKLIN (GBR) 2 89.46 +4.06
C1 Men Final
1 Benjamin SAVSEK (SLO) 0 74.45
2 Alexander SLAFKOVSKY (SVK) 0 75.09 +0.64
3 Casey EICHFELD (USA) 0 76.90 +2.45
C1 Men Season Standings
1 Alexander SLAFKOVSKY SVK (290) (32, 60, 60, 28, 110)
2 Nicolas PESCHIER FRA (245) (22, 44, 55, 40, 84)
3 Adam BURGESS (GBR) 241 (27, 36, 42, 44, 92)
C1 Women Season Standings
1 Mallory FRANKLIN (GBR) 307 (55, 42, 60, 50, 100)
2 Kimberley WOODS (GBR) 302 (50, 45, 42, 45, 120)
3 Jessica FOX (AUS) 285 (60, 55, 60, 11)
K1 Men Season Standings
1 Mathieu BIAZIZZO (FRA) 224 (17, 41, 55, 23, 88)
2 Vit PRINDIS (CZE) 222 (29, 60, 31, 44, 58)
3 Bradley FORBES-CRYANS (GBR) 211 (42, 20, 8, 31, 110)
