First competition day of the last race in the 2019 ECA European Open Canoe Slalom Cup race series is over. Slovak paddlers showed the best runs in heats of the race that was held in Bratislava, Slovakia, on a course which hosted European and World Championships in the past.
Matej Benuš, 2016 Olympic Games medallist, produced the best time in men’s canoe heats to securely advance to Saturday’s semifinal. Canoe legend Michal Martikan finished second, 1.56 seconds behind his teammate, but he had picked up two penalty seconds on his way. French canoeist Valentin Marteil was third in the first heats run.
Andrej Malek (SVK) who won his first gold medal at World Cup race this June in Bratislava again produced the fastest run in Čunovo near Bratislava. French paddlers Simon Hene and Benjamin Renia were second and third in men’s kayak heats.
All three top positions in women’s canoe heats were occupied by Slovak representatives. Sona Stanovska was the fastest, followed by Monika Škachova and Emanuela Luknarova.
Czech kayaker Barbora Valikova won in women’s kayak heats ahead of Australian paddler Kate Eckhardt and Slovak Kristina Nevarilova.
On Saturday the ECA European Open Canoe Slalom Cup race in Bratislava will conclude with semifinals and finals in all four categories.
All results are available here: http://canoebratislava.sk/live-results/
Photo: Canoe Slalom Bratislava Facebook page
9.8.2019
