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K2 racing drama brings down curtain at world champs

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It was a solid performance from Christie Mackenzie (right) and Bridgitte Hartley (left) as they finished fourth in the women's K2 race at the 2019 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Shaoxing, China on Sunday. (Bence Vekassy/
Gameplan Media)
It was a solid performance from Christie Mackenzie (right) and Bridgitte Hartley (left) as they finished fourth in the women's K2 race at the 2019 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Shaoxing, China on Sunday. (Bence Vekassy/ Gameplan Media)

Shaoxing - A final day dogged by drama and disappointment for Team South Africa in the senior K2 races brought down the curtain on the 2019 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Shaoxing.

The day started with the women's K2 race and the crews of Bridgitte Hartley and Christie Mackenzie and Kyeta Purchase and Jenna Ward both started strongly in a race dominated by the Hungarian and Spanish crews.

Ward and Purchase were in the front bunch for much of the race and were unable to keep up with the intensity in the closing stages. They fell off the lead bunch and joined Hartley and Mackenzie in the chasing pack.

Hartley and Mackenzie were sharper on the vital last portage and finished fourth, while Ward and Purchase ended in sixth place.

The blue ribbon race, the men's K2, closed the world championships and the South African pairings both had issues which prevented them from challenging for the medals.

The lead K2 of Alex Masina and Louis Hattingh were spun out just after the start of the race which effectively ended their hopes of a medal. The duo eventually finished the race in fifteenth place overall.

Clinton Cook and Bryan Leroux were drafted into the team following the withdrawal of Hank McGregor.

The pair put their hand up impressively and mixed it up in a volatile race at the front of the field, but their challenge ended prematurely when they were forced to pull out of the race with a broken seat.

The junior men's K2 of Hamish Mackenzie and David Evans will return with Team South Africa’s solitary medal from the four days of competition in China.

For more information visit www.canoesa.org.za

SUMMARY OF RESULTS – ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships Day 3:

Women's K2

1. Zsofia Czellai-Voros/Renata Csay HUN 1:56:30.22

2. Tania Fernandez/Tania Alvarez ESP 1:56:33.99

3. Irati Osa/Arantza Toledo ESP 1:56:56.72

4. Bridgitte Hartley/Christie Mackenzie RSA 1:58:00.57

5. Vanda Kiszli/Noemi Pupp HUN 1:58:08.55

6. Jenna Ward/Kyeta Purchase RSA 1:58:12.98

7. Amelie Kessler/Yseline Huet FRA 1:58:42.96

8. Gaia Piazza/Teresa Isotta ITA 2:04:37.57

9. Rebecca Mann/Hannah Scott AUS 2:04:49.13

10. Xiaolan Gou/Han Jiang CHN 2:05:25.34

Men's K2

1. Quentin Urban/Jeremy Candy FRA 1:58:45.25

2. Adrian Boros/Krisztian Mathe HUN 1:58:49.19

3. Franco Balboa/Dardo Balboa ARG 1:58:55.97

4. Ivan Alonso/Jaime Sobrado ESP 1:59:52.14

5. Miguel Fernandez/Jose Julian ESP 1:59:53.67

6. Joakim Lindberg/Emil Svennson SWE 2:00:01.81

7. Stephane Boulanger/Edwin Lucas FRA 2:00:38.49

8. Marcel Paufler/Sven Paufler GER 2:00:53.40

9. Nikolai Thomsen/Soren Maretti DEN 2:03:49.56

10. Sebastian Vergauven/Sebastian Jocano ARG 2:03:54.22

15. Louis Hattingh/Alex Masina RSA 2:06:21.80

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