Hungary once again enjoyed strong results on day two of the International Canoe Federation Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships, qualifying fastest in six of the 15 events contested at Auronzo, Italy.

The Czech Republic celebrated three fastest qualifiers, Germany had two, and there were also strong performances from paddlers from Poland, Moldova, Latvia and host nation Italy.

In men’s races, Balint Kollek in the K1 junior 1000, Gergely Lugosi and Istvan Juhasz in the junior C2 500, Janka Kiss and Zsombor Tamasi in the K2 U23 1000, and the junior C4 500 crew, all qualified fastest for Hungary.

In women’s events, Reka Opavsky in the C1 U23 500, and Agnes Kiss in the junior C1 500, both posted quickest qualifying times.

The Czechs sent three boats into the next rounds as fastest qualifiers. Jiri Minarik and Jiri Zalubil were fastest in the men’s U23 C2 500, Barbora Galadova was quickest in the women’s U23 K1 1000, and Michal Kulich and Jakub Remuta saluted first in the men’s U23 K2 500.

Germany’s Tobias Hammer in the men’s U23 K1 1000, and Caroline Heuser in the women’s junior K1 1000, were quickest in their heats, while Poland’s Alex Borucki and Pawel Slowinska were impressive in their K2 junior men’s 500 race.

Other fastest heat winners were Melanija Camane and Krista Berzina from Latvia in the women’s junior K2 500, Mihai Chihaia and Maria Olarasu in the women’s U23 C2 mixed 500, and Italians Sara Daldoss and Lucrezia Zironi in the women’s U23 K2 500.

The first finals of the junior and U23 world championships will be contested on Friday.

Pics by Bence Vekassy