Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta brushed off a bout of sickness to get the edge over Hungarian rivals Balint Kopasz and Adam Varga heading into tomorrow’s men’s kayak single 1000m showdown at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Cup in Szeged.
It was a blockbuster semi-final as Pimenta, Kopasz and Varga had ranked in the top three in the event in the past two years in the Hungarian city.
Varga triumphed in 2023 and Kopasz won in 2024, but Pimenta is looking to emerge victorious on this occasion.
Click here for live results from Szeged
Pimenta won his semi-final in 3:29.27, with Kopasz finishing in second and Varga in third as they all went through to the final.
“I am very, very happy about my performance,” said Pimenta.
“In the past few days, I have been feeling a bit sick.
“After the heats, I couldn’t breathe, I just coughed.
“I tried to do a big breath and it was impossible so I am a bit disappointed to be feeling sick but after the start I felt very comfortable with good technique side by side with the Hungarian guys and in the end I tried to push a little bit more to take the place in the final A.”
The other two semi-finals were won by Germany’s Jakob Thordsen and Argentina’s Agustin Vernice, with Czechia’s Olympic champion Josef Dostal finishing in second spot behind the latter.
Fuksa overcomes first-day nerves to make statement
Another Czech gold medallist from Paris 2024 in action on the opening day was Martin Fuksa in the men’s canoe single 1000m.
The 32-year-old put down a big marker with an impressive performance in his semi-final, finishing in 3:47.86 ahead of Hungary’s Balazs Adolf.
“It’s a little bit different being back out there after the Olympics so I am happier than normal,” said Fuksa.
“It’s nice but I must switch focus for competition, and I want to still be the best so we will see what happens in the next two days.
“I was nervous for this first international race of the season.
“Every time you are a little bit nervous as you don’t know what happened with your rivals in the winter.
“I was nervous but I have won the heat and the semi-final, so I am in more or less good shape.
“I am happy that I am in the final and I will be fighting for a medal, for sure.”
There was disappointment for Brazil’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Isaquias Guimaraes Queiroz who crashed out after finishing last in his semi-final.
Romania’s Catalin Chirila won that race to advance to the final, while Italy’s Gabriele Casadei posted the quickest time of all three semi-finals with 3:47.54.
Australia get better of New Zealand in K4 as Germany take control
New Zealand’s women’s K4 began their year without the legendary Lisa Carrington with progression to the final of the 500m.
But they needed a second bite of the cherry after Australia pipped them to top spot in their heat, meaning they had to come though the semi-finals to advance.
Alexandra Clarke, who is part of a new-look Australian team, was delighted to come out on top against the New Zealanders.
“It was a really good first hit-out with a brand new crew,” said Clarke, who is the only surviving member of last year’s team.
“We are really enjoying paddling together, so we are trusting the process and ticking one race off at a time.
“We were really happy with that one, it’s a great confidence boost moving forward.”
In the men’s K4 500m, reigning Olympic and world champions Germany looked in fine fettle as they eased into the final.
Hungary edged China in the opening heat, while Spain overcame the other Hungarian team to take the third heat.
Narrowest of margins separate Canada and Moldova
The closest race of the day saw Canada’s Sloan MacKenzie and Sophia Jensen win their women’s canoe double 500m semi-final by a mere 0.01.
Moldova’s Daniela Cociu and Maria Olarasu were pipped by MacKenzie and Jensen in a thrilling finish.
“It was really cool to be neck and neck the whole way,” said Jensen.
“I think it really goes to show the depth of the women’s canoe and it’s super exciting.
“It makes it way more fun.
“It’s obviously nice to be winning but it’s really nice to have a super intense, awesome field to compete against all the time.”
Antia Jacome and Maria Corbera of Spain won the second semi-final in 1:56.42 as Canada’s other pairing of Zoe Wojtyk and Jacy Grant came second.
Earlier, the heats were won by Spain’s Maria Moreno and Viktoriia Yarchevska, Hungary’s Agnes Anna Kiss and Bianka Nagy and China’s Mengya Sun and Yanan Ma to advance directly to the final.
Fisher bouncing back from Paris disappointment
New Zealand’s Aimee Fisher pulled away to seal her place in the women’s K1 500m final in Szeged.
Fisher, who triumphed at the two World Cups in Szeged and Poznan last year only to miss out on a medal at the Olympic Games, clocked 1:50.08 to win the second semi-final.
China’s Nan Wang had the fastest time with 1:48.40 in winning the opening semi-final, while Poland’s Anna Pulawska also impressed in the third semi-final, taking it in 1:49.61.
All the results from today’s heats and semi-finals can be found here.
Full coverage of this week's event can be viewed on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
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