The second race in the 2022 ECA
European Open Canoe Slalom Cup series takes place this weekend in Ljubljana –
Tacen, Slovenia. On the opening day, the heats were on the programme and
reigning and former world champions in their respective events showed the best
runs of the day. Ricarda Funk, Elena Lilik, Benjamin Savšek and Peter Kauzer
took the wins in the heats.
Ljubljana – Tacen, one of the
traditional canoe slalom venues which hosted many major international
competitions has welcomed around 150 athletes from eleven countries at the ECA
European Open Canoe Slalom Cup. The race serves as selection race for Slovenian
team, so there is much pressure on the athletes, except for Benjamin Savšek,
Peter Kauzer and Eva Terčelj, who are prequalified to the national team thanks
to their last year’s medals at Olympic Games (Savšek) and European
Championships (Kauzer and Terčelj).
Benjamin Savšek (SLO) was again out
of the league, winning men’s C1 heats despite two penalty seconds. Tokyo
Olympic Champion was at the end more than four seconds faster than his teammate
from Slovenian team Luka Božič, who also had a touch, while young Juš Javornik
finished third.
Ricarda Funk (GER), Tokyo Olympic
Champion and reigning World Champion, also had a good day on the Sava River.
She finished the first heats run 0.70 seconds ahead of 2019 World Champion and
last year’s European Championships silver medallist Eva Terčelj (SLO). Italian
representative Stefanie Horn was third.
Reigning women’s C1 champion Elena
Lilik (GER) was speeding down the course to take the confident win in women’s
C1 heats. Although she picked up four penalty seconds, she still lead more than
three and a half seconds ahead of second positioned Brazilian Ana Satila.
Slovenian Alja Kozorog was third.
In men’s kayak multiple World and
European Champion Peter Kauzer (SLO) finished the day at the top of the
scoreboard. He was not the fastest on the course today, as another Slovenian
Martin Srabotnik produced the fastest run, but two penalty seconds pushed him
to third position at the end. In between was Giovanni de Gennaro (ITA), who was
second with a clear run, only 0.24 seconds behind Kauzer.
On Sunday the competition continues
with semifinal and final, as well as extreme slalom race.
Livestreaming:
https://www.youtube.com/CanoeEurope
Results: http://www.timing-mojstrana.com/23-24-4-2022-tacen-eca-open-slalom-cup-2022/
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