5th World University Canoe Sprint Championship 2012 - Kazan - Russia - Day 2

5th World University Canoe Sprint Championship 2012 - Kazan - Russia - Day 2 August 31st, day 2 of the 5th World University Canoe Sprint Championship which is taking place at the Rowing Centre ended in Kazan. 8 medal events yesterday morning allowed Team Poland to take the top spot in the overall medal standings with host Russia settling for the fourth place in the tally. 8 nations out of 18 participating ones claimed medals of the 5th WUC Canoe Sprint yesterday. Paddlers from Poland, Ukraine and Hungary showed the best results. Belarus, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Kazakhstan and France also snatched medals of different colours. We s remind that there will be 24 medal events in total during this championship. In the afternoon men's and women's kayak qualifying heats continued the 5th WUC Canoe Sprint competition programme. In the men's K1 200m race the Italian athlete Manfredi RIZZA took the lead right after the starting whistle. The Hungarian Mate SZOMOLANYI left the Polish kayaker Piotr MAZUR behind, but despite his powerful finish spurt he did not manage to come first. The best time of the race is 35.26. In the second race the fans pinned their hopes on the Russian athlete Kirill LYPUNOV, who did not disappoint them and came first in a time of 35.40. Ignas NAVAKAUSKAS (LTU) and Franck LE MOEL (FRA) took the second and third places respectively. The K1 racers Maksim BONDAR (KGZ), Villiam IBRAGIMOV (UZB) and Yevgeniy PISKUN (KAZ) made it to the finals at the second attempt. K1 500m podium: Nora Szilvasy (HUN), Elena Anushina (RUS) & Jana Blahova (CZE) The Russian kayaker and Kazan 2013 Ambassador, Natalia LOBOVA progressed to the K1 200m final with the best time (42.00). The Russian fans put highest medal hopes on her at the 5th WUC Canoe Sprint. The Russian sprint star will compete in the final against Petra SZABO (HUN) and Ana Paula VERGUTZ (BRA), who came second (43.39) and third (45.17) respectively. The second K1 qualifying race was no less entertaining. All the rowers crossed the finish line almost simultaneously. But the timekeeping system showed that three top places were taken by Inna KLINOVA of Ukraine (42.04), Lea JAMELOT of France (43.03) and Michaela FASNEROVA of Czech Republic (43.21) who consequently secured spots in the final race. Anja CERNAK (SRB), Rio TAKAHASHI (JPN), Aleksandra GORNA (POL) will join the other six rowers in the women's K1 200m final. The K2 200m winners have been decided in the afternoon at the 5th World University Canoe Sprint Championship. The Polish athletes Dawid PUTTO and Sebastian SZYPULA (33.06), the Ukrainian pair Sergii TOKARNITSKYI and Igor TRUNOV (33.38) and the Hungarians Marton SIK and Gergely BOROS (33.49) took the first three places and are through to the finals. The second K2 200m race was marked with the victory of the Russian pair. Despite the efforts of their opponents, Kirill LYPUNOV and Alexandr NIKOLAEV came first (33.41). The Belorussians Dzianis KLIMOVICH and Andrei KALOSKA (33.66) and the athletes from Kazakhstan Stanislav RZAYEV and Artiyem LOBODA (34.75) fell only a little behind. The French pair Alexandre CRESSOL and Guillaume BURGER, Italians Enrico BATTISTEL and Giulio DRESSINO and Brazilians Joao Carlos RODRIGUES and Michel FERREIRA were through to the men's K2 200m finals as well. 19 medal events will take place today, August 31st, in the water area of Lake Kaban. The full competition schedule of Day 3 is available here. The closing ceremony will take place at 2.15 pm at the Rowing Centre. http://www.fisu.net/en/5th-WUC-Canoe-Sprint-Day-2-3133.html?mbID=4796