Day 1 World Cup Canoe Sprint Racice. High praise for Hoff

max hoff racice czech republic world cup 2013 icf germany canoe kayak sprint sportscene day 1 results competition

Racice | International Canoe Federation - The Czech Republic's K4 Men 1000m team and a great solo effort from Anna Koziskova, in the K1 Women 1000m, kept the host nations dreams of gold alive, as the first day of the 2013 ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup competition in Racice was completed.

In blustery, but relatively clear conditions the action came fast and furious with over ten hours of world class paddling, in the second of three Canoe Sprint World Cup events.

With many of the Russian team travelling to Racice directly after the Szeged World Cup, it was perhaps unsurprising to see Anastasiya Sergueeva (RUS) - in familiar surroundings - win the very first race of the day in the K1 Women 500m.

In the same event Lisa Carrington (NZL) showed great improvements over the 500m distance, as the K1 200m Olympic champion pulled away to take first position in her semifinal.

High Praise For Hoff

In the K1 Men 1000m Max Hoff (GER) was again in irresistible form and cruised through both his races comfortably to reach the Final.

A rival in the K1 Men’s final, Ben Fouhy (NZL) said, "Realistically, I have no chance in the final, he's [Max Hoff] in a league above me right now. Obviously I'd like to be doing what he's doing, but I'm just not at that level at the moment."

max hoff racice czech republic world cup 2013 icf germany canoe kayak sprint sportscene day 1 results competition

However, the 2004 Athens Olympic silver medalist is please with his form and continued, "I'm really pleased to make the final. It's the first time I've made the final in a long, long time. I felt I was able to build on Szeged. I'm still a little rusty at the moment, so it's nice to show some improvements."

René Holten Poulsen and Marko Tomicevic also impressed in their semifinals in the same event.

Poulsen commented, “I feel good, but I don't want to look too happy before I see how it goes in the finals. I'd say I have a pretty good chance in all of the races I am doing.”

Olympic Gold medalist, Sebastian Brendel will be looking to add a second C1 Men 1000m medal in as many weeks, following another untroubled journey to the final.

With the French and Belarusian duos being five seconds faster than all other teams the C2 Men 1000m heats, Saturday’s final is likely to be a straight rerun of the semifinal contest between the two nations. The Belarusian's narrowly edged todays contest, but expect French retaliation.

Absence Provide Chances

Without any of the medalist from Szeged in the line up, the K2 Women 500m final looks to be an open race. The duos of Anne Rikala and Pauliina Polet from Finland, and Teneale Hatton and Rachael Dodwell from New Zealand were the first across the finish line in their respective semifinals.

USA and Australia look to be the strongest going into the K2 Women 1000m final, as the two Hungarian pairs who finished first and second in Szeged have both opted to stay at home in preparation for their national selection races next week.

Margaret Hogan and Kaitlin Mcelroy (USA) will be marginal favourites after their third position in last weeks World Cup.

Eurosport

The action will also be broadcasts LIVE on Eurosport
- Saturday 17 May, Eurosport LIVE 10:30 CET LIVE
- Sunday 18 May, Eurosport LIVE 10:00 CET LIVE

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