Adapted from Australian Canoeing- Richard Fox
A challenging course had awaited teams this morning for the semi finals and finals. Under the new rules introduced in 2007 there are no restrictions to the number of course changes from the qualification course and the course designers from France and Japan made the most of the opportunity. For the top ten competitors the addition of semi final scores with the final run scores meant there was room for some suprise upsets on a course renowned for its unpredictability.
A key feature was the left hand upstream gate in the middle of the infamous "Tacen drop", a move which has rarely been used in major competitions and one which would determine the outcome for many in the race. Gate 7 was a an upstream gate set flush to the current and gate 9 a tricky downstream in surging water. Each would claim its victims. The final section of the Tacen course flows out into the River Sava and the double upstream gates 14 and 15 in the shallow wider section tested the fitness and discipline of all of the competitors.
The C2 race favourites, the Hochshorners from Slovakia, picked up a couple of touches on the semi final run and were pressured by the Slovenians, Visnar and Jarc and the British crew, Baillie and Stott. In the final, the Hochshorners cleaned up their act and improved their time to hold off the impressive British pair by 1.71 seconds overall finishing with a total of 204.22 seconds. The Slovenians dropped to 10th with a run of penalties resembling a cricket score, while German crew, Michel and Piersig moved from 10th postion to claim the bronze medal.
Mandy Planert of Germany set the pace leading the women's semi final by over four seconds from world champion Jana Dukotova of Slovakia. The Slovak had scraped through qualifying round yesterday and then showed her class with a fast second run to close the overall gap on Planert finishing 1.32 seconds behind the German's time of 199.56. Last week's winner, Stepanka Hilgertova of the Czech Republic, charged through the course to claim the bronze medal moving up from 9th place in the semi final
For the partisan crowd, the final event of the day, the men's K1, was the most awaited race and it brought its own share of surprises. The Slovenians dominated the semi final with the favourite, Peter Kauzer, in first and his team mates, Dejan Kralj and Jure Meglic tucked in respectably in 5th and 7th positions. The main challengers to the local order at this stage were German, Fabian Doerfler, Irishman Eoin Rheinisch, world champion, Stefano Cipressi of Italy with Campbell Walsh of Great Britain as a long shot.
All the K1 Men had improved performanaces with Mike Dawson 21st, Aaron Osborne 27th and Johann Roozeburg 30th. Mike Dawson in 21st position behind Brown (AUS) and ahead of Draper (AUS) in the top 15 places for Olympic countries. After the race the Brown (AUS) said "we need to work more on sustaining our intensity over the whole course, the top guys are going for it right to the end, managing the risk taking the whole way". This is also true of the Kiwis.
Scott Parsons of the USA was the last to qualify for the semi final and lay down the gauntlet on second runs by repeating his first run score to within a tenth of a second. His total of 183.76 was bettered only by the Slovenian, Meglic, who jumped from 7th to first. Doerfler consolidated his performance with a solid second run to finish third while first Walsh, then Cipressi and finally local hero, Kauzer, fell foul of the judges in their rush for glory picking up contested 50 second penalties for failing to get their whole head in a gate.
At the close of the competition, the emotions were mixed for the crowd and some teams who left frustrated. On balance, the outcome was in keeping with the expectations of drama and excitement at a World Cup in Tacen.
For the New Zealand team, there was evidence of improvement during the weekend which will need to be converted into more consistent semi final and entry into finals. Next week's World Cup in Augsburg, Germany, provides a further opportunity for the team to develop competitive performances ahead of the Olympic qualification and world championships in Brazil.
