Kragelj 8th in Penrith PDF E-mail
Urša Kragelj was the only Slovenian finalist in Saturday’s part of the Australian Open in Penrith. Very close to the final were also Eva Terčelj in women’s kayak category and Luka Božič - Sašo Taljat in Canadian double who finished competition in 11th place.

After excellent result in heats where Urša Kragelj produced the fastest time, Slovenian paddled well also in the semi-final. Among thirty kayakers who started in the semi-final she was fifth and ensured herself a place in the grand final. There she did a mistake that cost her two penalty seconds and at the end she finished eighth. Kragelj was satisfied at the end: “My boat did not run smoothly in the semi-final, but I still continued without penalties, because my first goal was getting into the final. The final run was, when it comes to preparation, good, but I was slower in the upper part and I also had a touch. The middle and last part were good, but I made a big mistake at the finish. I hardly caught a gate and I almost capsized. Without the last mistake I would be about two seconds faster, which would be a solid result. As I said before the qualifications, we did not prepare especially for this race and we were not rested as other competitors.” For only 40 hundreds of a second Eva Terčelj missed a final and was eleventh at the end. The third Slovene in women’s semifinal, Nina Mozetič, finished this competition in 13th place. Defending World Champion Corinna Kuhnle from Austria won in front of German Jasmin Schornberg and Australian Rosalyn Lawrence.

Photo: Glenn HodsonWere close to the final were also Luka Božič and Sašo Taljat in Canadian double, who were eleventh. Luka Slapšak and Urban Jarc were 13th. At the Olympic course in Penrith Slovakian duo Peter and Ladislav Škantar was the best. Second placed were Timothy Baillie and Etienne Stott from Great Britain and Czech paddlers Jaroslav Volf and Ondrej Štepanek were third.

In men's C1 semi-final Anže Berčič and Jernej Zupan represented Slovenia. None of the mentioned advanced to the final. Anže Berčič was 16th and Jernej Zupan was 20th. With more than a second faster time than his opponent’s Frenchman Tony Estanguet won, Ander Elosegui of Spain was second and another French canoeist Denis Gargaud Chanut was third.

The last day of Australian Open will bring us semi-finals and finals in men’s kayak and women’s canoe.

You can find results here.
 

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