Races

Final standings of Sunday’s events on Oceania Open

By CSNFebruary 21, 2010

Sydney (ENS) – Three events were decided on the third and final day of the 2010 Oceania Canoe/Kayak Slalom Open at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium on Sunday.
 
There were no major suprises following the semifinals of the Men’s C2 Canoe Double events with Peter and Ladislav Skantar of Slovakia posting the quickest time with compatriots Pavol and Peter Hochschorner second quickest.
The French duo of Fabien Lefevre and Denis Gargaud-Chanut, who recorded the quickest time in the first round of heats on Friday, have also qualified for Sunday afternoon’s final with the third fastest time.

Australia will have two teams in the final, with the pair of Robin Jeffrey and Kynan Maley eighth quickest while the Christian Fabris/Ian Borrows finishing tenth quickest.
“We are fired up today because the course is difficult and, although we made small mistakes, it is not a big problem. Although we’re delighted to qualify first, the final is the most important so we shall see what happens there,” said Peter Skantar.
Olympic gold medallist Pavol Hochschorner was cautiously optimistic for the final. “We are happy but we can go faster because we made mistakes at gates 2, 12 and 14,” he said.
 
In C1 women’s semifinals Australia’s Jessica Fox has qualified for the final of the Women’s C1 Canoe Single slalom with the fastest semi final run time of 128.60s on Sunday morning.
Fox, who had also clocked the quickest run in the first round of heats on Friday, was last out of the starting gate in the semis and one of only two women in the semis to record a clean run, Rosalyn Lawrence – who finished fourth – being the other.

Slovakia’s Jana Dukatova was second quickest with Fox’s Penrith Valley Canoeing clubmate Alison Borrows third at the end of the semi finals.
Ella Nicholas, the sole representative from the Cook Islands at the Oceania Canoe/Kayak Open, has qualified ninth fastest for the final of the Women’s C1 Canoe slalom event. Clocking a time of 198.9, Nicholas said she had enjoyed the run. “I think I got all the gates, it wasn’t amazing. I did a bit of switching hands but it was good fun,” Nicholas said following her race.

Czech paddler Vavrinec Hradilek has recorded the fastest time in the semi final of the Men’s K1 Kayak Single event at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium on Sunday morning. Hradilek recorded a time of 99.81s, edging Frenchman Boris Neveu who clocked 99.83s. Canada’s David Ford was third quickest with a time of 100.36s with France’s Sebastian Combot fourth on 100.96s
 
Cousins Peter and Ladislav Skantar of Slovakia took out the C2 Men’s Canoe Doubles title at the 2010 Oceania Slalom Open at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium on Sunday.
The Slovaks edged compatriots and triple Olympic champions Pavol and Peter Hochschorner into second place with the British team of Daniel Goddard and Colin Radmore finishing third.

The two Australian teams of Christian Fabris/Ian Borrows and Robin Jeffrey/Kynan Maley finished seventh and eighth respectively.

Ladislav Skantar, silver medallist at the 2009 World Championships, said he and his brother were happy with the win.”We are happy to be in first place but we still had two big mistakes on gates 16 and 18 which means a two second penalty,” he said.
Peter Hochschorner, triple Olympic gold medallist with his brother Pavol, bemoaned a less-than-perfect performance. “I don’t know why, maybe we are too tired from training before the race.“
Britain’s Colin Radmore partnered Daniel Goddard to the bronze medal in the Men’s C2: ”This is a brilliant end to our training camp out here,” he said.
 
Australia’s Jessica Fox capped off an excellent performance for the Australian Institute of Sport canoe/kayak slalom programme at the 2010 Oceania Canoe/Kayak Slalom Open with her victory at Penrith on Sunday.
In dazzling sunshine, the local 16-year-old paddler won the Women’s C1 final, ahead of Slovakia’s former World Champion Jana Dukatova, 10 years her senior.

Teammate Leanne Guinea ensured there would be two Australians on the podium for the event, clinching bronze in a time of 129.44s.
Jessica Fox – gold medal in C1: “I’m delighted with the result. I nearly lost it right at the last gate but as I went over I managed to save myself and correct it before any time was lost.”
Slovakia’s Jana Dukatova was satisfied with the overall performance. “Gates one and two are more difficult for right hand paddlers. I only use my right hand, so after I passed those I was less scared,” she said.
Australia’s bronze medallist Leanne Guinea said the performance encouraged her for the national championships. “This gives me a second place in the nationals and now I’m looking to take this on and push in the next two events.”

The magic 100 second barrier determined the medallists in a high quality final of the Men’s K1 Kayak Singles Slalom event of the 2010 Oceania Open on Sunday. Daniele Molmenti of Italy took home the gold medal in a time of 97.63s, ahead of Czech Republic’s Vavrinec Hradilek in 99.42s and France’s Pierre Bourliaud who clocked 99.87s.
Nine of the ten finalists had clean runs with Sebastian Combot’s error at Gate 14 the only blemish on what was almost the perfect final.

Daniele Molmenti: “For the whole of the meeting I’ve been tired and I didn’t really prepare for this race. But I had my brain working and a real good energy going down. I changed my strategy from yesterday and it clearly worked.”
Vavrinec Hradilek said after the race: “I am satisfied with both of my runs, they were clean with no mistakes. I felt a little out of line sometimes but that means that I had a good solid run and I still have some room to improve. There were a lot of strong paddlers from Europe and Australia here so it is a perfect feeling to get a good result here while I am training for the World Cup and World Championships.”
Pierre Bourliaud: “That race was better than yesterday and I am happy to be third in my first race of the year. It is a good start to the season for 2010.”

Competition Results

K1M
1.	Molmenti Daniele	ITA	97,63	0
2.	Hradilek Vavrinec	CZE	99,42	0
3.	Bourliaud Pierre	FRA	99,87	0
C2M
1.	Skantar Ladislav Skantar Peter	SVK	109,03	2
2.	Hochschorner Pavol Hochschorner Peter	SVK	111,60	2
3.	Goddard Daniel Radmore Colin	GBR	114,32	0
C1W
1.	Fox Jessica	AUS	125,01	0
2.	Dukatova Jana	SVK	126,88	2
3.	Guinea Leanne	AUS	129,44	2