Thick mist cleared in time to provide another day of beautiful racing conditions in Racice, Czech Republic, as day 6 of the 2022 World Rowing Championships got underway. This morning’s racing session began with the D, C and B finals of the lightweight men’s and women’s single sculls before we moved on to the final sets of semifinals A/B. The two repechages of the men’s eight closed the session off.

World Championship Best Time Broken

The bar was set in the first semifinal of the PR1 men’s single sculls when Italy’s Giacomo Perini smashed the World Championship Best Time by over twelve seconds. Perini finished ahead of last year’s Paralympic Champion Roman Polianskyi of Ukraine with Germany’s Marcus Klemp taking the third qualifying place. In the second semifinal, it was a win for Great Britain’s Ben Pritchard in a time of 9:16.96. Australia’s Paralympic silver medalist Erik Horrie finished behind Pritchard but may have more to give in the final? The third qualifying place went to Egamberdiev Kholmurod of Uzbekistan. It was sad to see the Paralympic bronze medalist Rene Campos Pereira having to withdraw before the semifinal for medical reasons.

Line-up confirmed for men’s singles showdown

The stage is now set for what is likely to be another huge showdown in the final of the men’s single sculls this Sunday! Recent European Champion Melvin Twellaar clocked a time of 6:48.04. He finished ahead of Olympic gold and silver medalists from last year, Kjetil Borch and Stefanos Ntouskos. In the second semifinal, defending World Champion Oliver Zeidler of Germany led from the start to set a time of 6:44.03 although appeared to wind down slightly before the line. He was chased all of the way by Great Britain’s Graeme Thomas, who finished just over a second behind. The third qualifying place was secured by New Zealander Jordan Parry who is relatively new to the single scull.

Twigg looking for World Champion title?

She became Olympic Champion last year and New Zealand’s Emma Twigg is clearly hoping to step on from her silver medal at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. Twigg crossed the line with clear water behind her in the second semifinal, with a time of 7:27.96. There was drama behind her as Spanish sculler Virginia Diaz Rivas worked her way through the field and took the second qualifying place. Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Hannah Scott, who had briefly led in the middle of the race, took third place. Alexandra Foester, who has had an incredibly successful season narrowly missed out and her fourth place finish will put her into the B final. The first semifinal had been a slightly less dramatic affair with Dutch sensation Karolien Florjn leading from the start to win in 7:26.68. Australia’s Tara Rigney and China’s Shiyu Lu took the second and third qualifying places respectively. The final will be on Sunday and it is all to play for!

Moldova to race for medals

The semifinals of the men’s double sculls provided all sorts of drama. The fastest time across the two semifinals was in the first when Spain’s Aleix Garcia Pujolar and Rodrigo Conde Romero crossed the line in 6:11.46, but the real race was happening behind them! Australia’s David Bartholot and Caleb Antill, who had led for the majority of the race, finished second and with an incredible sprint to the line, Moldova’s Chirill Visotchi-Sestacov and Ivan Corsunov held off a charge from Italy to finish third and secure the opportunity to race for medals. The second semifinal was no less dramatic and we saw Croatia’s Sinkovic brothers lose a race for the first time since they have moved back into the double scull. The semifinal was won by last year’s Olympic Champions, Hugo Boucheron and Matthieu Androdias with Greece also pipping Croatia to the line.

Can anyone catch the Olympic champions?

In semifinal 1 of the women’s double sculls, Ireland’s Sanita Puspure and Zoe Hyde were quickest out of the blocks, but the Dutch duo of Roos de Jong and Laila Youssifou moved into the lead in the second quarter of the race and crossed the line first in a time of 6:52.40. With Ireland holding on to second place, Germany secured the third qualifying place for the final. In the second semifinal, the Olympic Champions from Romania were dominant throughout. Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis crossed the line in 6:46.97 with clear water ahead of Austria and the USA.

Remaining finalists confirmed in men’s eights

This morning’s racing session concluded with the two repechages of the men’s eight to decide who would join Great Britain and Canada in Sunday’s final. The crowds went absolutely wild as Australia and Romania sprinted to the line, finishing 0.44 seconds apart from each other, but comfortably ahead of the rest of the field. In the second repechage, the Netherlands and the USA took the two qualifying places with a surprise as Germany were pushed into the B final.

This afternoon’s racing features the first of our A Finals. You can find the full programme on worldrowing.com

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Daily Digest: Heating up in Racice

Daily Digest: Last semifinals completed

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