Favourites struggle through to semi-finals in K1 class at Canoe Slalom World Championships

The favourites had a tricky morning but all progressed through to the semi-finals ©ICF

Several of the favourites for the men’s K1 title suffered scares at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships here today, including the defending champion Boris Neveu.

The Frenchman looked steady through the opening five gates but the sixth saw him receive a 50 second penalty having not negotiated it correctly, meaning despite completing the course in an impressive time of 1min 20.14sec he would end 92nd out of the 102 competitors.

A place further back was Germany’s Sebastian Schubert, who won the K1 class at both the 2013 and 2014 editions of the Canoe Slalom World Cup, after he also picked up a 50 second penalty on the same gate.

Both men though would make the most of the second heat later in the day to secure two of the ten additional berths available in the semi-finals, but the fatigue caused by an unexpected extra run down one of the most challenging courses in the world could prove costly on Sunday.

While the pair’s errors cost them on their opening run there was no such problem for Italy’s Daniele Molmenti, who won gold on this course three years ago at the London 2012 Olympics, as he finished 19th out of the 31 qualifiers from the first heat.

Although Molmenti posted a clean run of 1:24.61 to seal progression, the Italian is looking to make improvements in the semi-final as he tries to win another major title at the venue.

“The run was okay, it was enough, but I was really not focussed at all at the start,” he said.

New Zealand's Michael Dawson produced the fastest time of the day ©ICF

“I just tried to go down without making big mistakes and it was good for now but I have to change my mind a bit for Sunday.

“All my training programme is on schedule to be here really fit, and this is my goal so let’s see on Sunday.”

Two of the other favourites for the overall victory were the two-time European champion Jiri Prskavec of the Czech Republic, who finished in 1:23.33 to qualify eighth, and the 2015 World Cup champion Peter Kauzer of Slovenia who came home 14th in 1:24.00.

However the performance of the day came from New Zealand’s Michael Dawson as he crossed the line in 1:21.28 to qualify fastest for the semi-finals, with home favourite Joseph Clarke 0.19sec behind.

The United States’ Michal Smolen posted the third fastest time after completing the course in 1:21.96.