Race by Race Report - Group A Semis

Every race provided to-the-wire action and there was more than the odd surprise result as the big names lined up for Group A semifinals at the FISA World Rowing Championships in Lucerne, Switzerland today (Thursday).

Full, detailed results are available in theRace Tracker.

Another superb day greeted the rowers, with the sun shining and the water still.

Women's single sculls: Frenchwoman Sophie Balmary pulled off a surprise win in semifinal one over Olympic champion Ekaterina Karsten. Balmary got off to a strong start and was able to maintain her place. Karsten, racing in both the double and single on Sunday, seemed content to qualify second and did not challenge for the lead. Poland's Agnieszka Tomczak held off Maira Gonzalez to take third. All three women looked comfortable as they crossed the line. In semifinal two, Olympic bronze medallist Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski of Germany held off the only sculler to seriously threaten her, Joulia Levina of Russia. Rutschow-Stomporowski was two lengths ahead as they crossed the line, with a delighted Erika Spinello of Italy finishing third to qualify for her first World Championships final.

Men's single sculls: Olympic double sculls silver medallist Olaf Tufte continued his successful move to the single with a win in semifinal one. He had bided his time in fourth place for the first half, as Olympic bronze medallist Marcel Hacker of Germany held the lead over Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic. But Hacker began to tire in the third 500 and Tutfe and Chalupa took the chance to move through. Chalupa took second, with Bulgaria's Ivo Yanakiev surging forward to take third in the final 500 metres. Hacker missed the finals. Semifinal two was the one the crowd had been waiting for. The man they had come to see, Swiss Xeno Mueller took the race after an unrelenting battle with Olympic double sculls champion Iztok Cop. The men were level from the start with neither prepared to give an inch. Mueller won by 0.24 seconds as Australia's Duncan Free and Argentina's Santiago Fernandez headed towards the line looking for third. That went to Free by just 0.2 seconds.

Lightweight men's single sculls: Former world lightweight coxless pair champion Stefano Basalini of Italy took the first semifinal. He had sat in third for the first half in a course-wide lineup of early leader Tamas Varga of Hungary, world champion Michal Vabrousek of the Czech Republic, and Andrei Chevel of Russia. Basalini was able to move through in the final 500 metres to finish half a length over Vabrousek. Varga took the third final spot. In semifinal two, Ireland's Sam Lynch made the race his own. He got out into the lead early on and was able to watch the battle for the places unfold behind him. Steve Tucker of USA made a remarkable comeback from a slow start that saw him last at the first 500 metres. He picked up speed in every split and rowed through the field to take second. Argentina's Ulf Liehard and Germany's Peter Ording had been in the running for the places early on but lost steam and France's Frederic Dufour took third by a length.

Women's coxless pair: New Canadian combination Jacqueline Cook and Karen Clark look to be a serious gold medal possibility, qualifying first in semifinal one. Clark and Cook had sat just behind world junior champion Yuliya Bichyk and partner Olga Tratsevskaya of Belarus for the first 1000 metres but made their way into the lead with a third-500 push. Great Britain's Katherine Grainger and Cath Bisthop rowed their way into a clear third placing and held the position comfortably. Canada finished half a length over Belarus, with Britain two and a half lengths back in third. The second semifinal belonged to Olympic champion in this event Georgeta Damian and her Olympic eight champion partner Viorica Susanu of Romania. They took the lead early on over Australia's Emily Martin and Kristina Larsen. By the 1000 metres Australia was established in second, with Sonja and Mira Van Daelen of Germany safely in third.

Men's coxless pair: Great Britain's Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell held off a late charge from Italy's Rosario Gioia and Dario Lari of Italy to take the first semifinal. They took the lead early on and had a length on Italy by the 1000 metre mark. Yugoslavia's Djordie Visacki and Nikola Stojic held off Germany's Jan Herzog and Ike Landvoight to take the third place. South Africa's Ramon di Clemente and Donovan Cech won the second semifinal after using a strong start to stay just ahead of a four boat lineup. No one was prepared concede any space in the quest for the three places in the finals, with the Czech Republic, Romania and Argentina separated only by split seconds as they headed towards the line. But the pace was too much for Adam Michalek and Petr Imre of the Czech Republic. They seemed to seize up just before the line, with Argentina's Damian Ordas and Walter Balunek taking second a length behind South Africa. Daniel Mastacan and Florin Corbeanu were third, 0.27 seconds later.

Men's double sculls: A well timed sprint by Hungary's Akos Haller and Tibor Peto earned them first place in semifinal one. They rowed down course-long leaders, Italian quad sculls Olympic champions Rossano Galtarossa and Alessio Sartori to finish first by 0.02 seconds. Cuba's Yosebel Martinez and Yoennis Hernandez took third. France's Adrien Hardy and Sebastien Vielledent took semifinal two after early leaders Olympic champion Luka Spik and partner Davor Mizerit of Slovenia lost pace in the final race to the line. Stephan Volkert and Stefan Roehnert finished half a length behind France as Spik and Mizerit held off a strong Brazilian challenge to take third.