The Italians clocked 6min 05.730sec to beat Austria by little more than three seconds.

Austria took silver in 6:08.780, while China earned bronze in 6:08.850.

"China and Norway pushed hard at the start, so at 500 metres we made a push," said Italy's Gabriel Soares.

"We’re all so happy to come away with the gold medal. 

"Our next race is the World Rowing Championships and I don’t expect many changes between now and then."

Australia's Sean Murphy won the men's lightweight single sculls title, crossing the line in 7:12.770.

Artur Mikolajczewski of Poland was the recipient of the silver medal and European champion Peter Galambos of Hungary did enough for bronze.

Canada's Jill Moffatt, fifth in the World Championships, topped the podium in the women's lightweight single sculls in 8:16.430.

Fang Chen of China was second in 8:17.350, while Australia’s Georgia Nesbitt claimed bronze.

World Championships silver medallist Annika van der Meer of the Netherlands clinched gold in the Para PR2 women's single sculls, defeating Britain's Lauren Rowles in a head-to-head race.

In the men's race, world champion Corne de Koning added another victory for the Dutch team as he clocked 9:06.630.

Canada's Jeremy Hall and Iaroslav Koiuda of Ukraine secured silver and bronze, respectively.

Action in Poznań continues tomorrow.