After twelve races the 2017 ECA Junior Canoe Slalom series concluded in Bratislava. On Saturday and Sunday Slovakia hosted the last two events of the season with athletes from Europe as well as overseas participating in the events. Athletes from ten countries won trophies for their good performances on a course which hosted the Junior and U23 World Championships last month.
Nicolas Gestin (FRA) won both on Saturday and Sunday in men’s C1 U18 category. On Saturday and Sunday Ben Moss (GBR) finished second. Elude Houillon (FRA) accompanied them on the podium on Saturday and Hugo Latimier (FRA) on Sunday. Gabriel De Coster from Belgium also had a good weekend in Slovakia. He finished second and third in men’s K1 U18 event. Joschua Dietz (GER) won the event on Sunday, while Mathis Soudi (MAR) took the win on Saturday. Marco Romano (ITA) was third of Sunday and Vincent Delahaye (FRA) second on Saturday. Nikita Setchell (GBR) won first and third place in women’s K1 U18 category. Lucia Murzova (SVK) won on Sunday in this event and Alice Evlacher (FRA) picked up bronze on Saturday. Sona Stanovska (SVK) also won two medals in front of her home crowd. She won on Sunday in women’s C1 and finished second in the same event on Saturday. Jessica Magson (GBR) was third in both races.
Athletes also fought for the top positions in the ECA Junior Slalom Cup series in the U16 categories. Daniel Urban (CZE), Yohann Senechault (FRA) and Eduard Lerch (CZE) won medals in C1 event on Sunday, while on Saturday Hector Combes (FRA), Miroslav Korinek (SVK) and Thomas L’Huillier (FRA) took the top three positions in men’s C1 U16 event. Matus Staffen (SVK) was the most successful in men’s K1 U16 final on Saturday. Jakob Luther and Leonardo Grimandi (both ITA) joined him on the podium. On Sunday Vid Oštrbenk (SLO) finished the final run ahead of Staffen and Jeann-Charles Hacquart (FRA). Young British paddler Daisy Cooil won four medals in women’s K1 and C1 U16 finals. She won gold and silver in C1 and also silver and bronze in K1 final. Katie McDermott (GBR) and Mahuliena Durecova (SVK) were also on the podium in C1 event. Ria Šribar (USA) finished first in both races. Anna Neugebauerova (CZE) was second on Saturday and Barbora Kortisova (SVK) third on Sunday.
Number of boats in C2 events was unfortunately very modest. Vid and Maj Oštrbenk (SLO) were the only boat in the U16 final on Saturday, while Joshua Dietz and Maxi Dilli (GER) did not have any opponents in U18 final.
Paddlers in U14 and Open categories also competed in Slovakia, but their categories do not count as official ECA junior cups.
Marek Riegel (SVK) and Timo Haslmaier – Muellneritsch (AUT) showed good form on Saturday and Sunday in U14 C1M event. Austrian paddler finished second on both days, while Riegel won on Sunday and was third on Saturday. Martino Barzon (ITA) was the winner of the first final race in Bratislava and David Staffen (SVK) won bronze in men’s U14 canoe final on Sunday. The same three competitors were on a podium in women’s U14 K1 final in both competitions. Ivana Klobouckova (CZE) won on Saturday ahead of Helena Domajnko (SLO) and Ester Kaliska (SVK), while on Sunday Helena Domajnko crossed the finish line 0.12 seconds faster than Czech competitor to win the race. Ilja Buran (SVK) was also on a podium on both occasions in K1M U14 category. Oran Huff (USA) was second on Saturday and third on Sunday, while Maxime Derydt (SVK) won second place on Sunday and Thomas Mayer (GBR) finished third on Saturday. In women’s U14 C1 final Ivana Chlebova (SVK) won gold and silver medal, Ivana Klobouckova (CZE) won on Sunday and Eva Marchand (FRA) finished second on Saturday.
In women’s open final Fee Maxeiner (GER) produced the best times both on Saturday and Sunday to win ahead of Viviana Daille from France. On Saturday Kensa Randle from New Zealand finished third, while on Sunday Emilie Delahaye finished the race behind her compatriot Daille. Tom Maffeis (FRA) and Yves Bourhis (SEN) picked up medals in men’s C1 open category on both days as well. Maffeis won on Saturday and was third on Sunday, while Patrick Marriot (GBR) finished third on Saturday and Simon Le Friec (FRA) celebrated a win on Sunday. In men’s kayak open final it was an all French podium on both days. Benoit Guillaume, Yves Prigent and Sami Rocher finished on the podium on Saturday and Malo Quemeneur, Jonas Turmeau and Benoit Guillaume on Sunday. On Sunday Charlotte Abba (FRA) finished second in women’s C1 behind Japan’s Airi Yagi.
More information and results can be found here:
http://www.ecajuniorslalomcup.eu/
