Majorcans Joan Toni Moreno and Álex Graneri shine in Milan and keep fighting for the podium

Joan Toni Moreno, from Reial Club Nàutic del Port de Pollença, has achieved geeting to the C2 500 finals, while the paddler from Real Club Náutico de Palma, Álex Graneri, goes on to the K1 500 semi-finals.

The delegation of the RFEP has added four new finals for the medals in the second day of competition in the Olympic Sprint World Championship that is taking place in the Parco Idroscalo of Milan. In addition to the other six races that were carried out by our paddlers, in five of them the ticket to the semi-finals was accomplished. Only  Manuel Fontán in the C1 500, was left out of the fight for the medals in a harsh semifinal, in which only three qualified and those were Czech Fuksa, Moldavian Tarmnovschi and Greek Dimopoulos, leaving the Galician at just 22 hundredths of getting to the final. He will compete in the B final of today, Friday August 22nd, at 2:25 p.m.

As for the four finalist boats, the C2 500 took place in the morning. The Spaniards started in the first heat, where only the winners would earn a ticket to the final. That objective was achieved by Joan Toni Moreno, from the Reial Club Nàutic of Port de Pollença, and Diego Domínguez, who managed to bring their boat to victory in a consistent way, crossing the line more than a second ahead of the German boat. The Spanish duo, bronze medalists at the Paris Games and gold medalists at this year’s World Cup in Szeged, will fight for medals in the final on Sunday, August 24 at 10:47 a.m.

After the race, Diego and Joan Toni analyzed their performance. “Good feelings on a choppy course, but it went quite well for us, we beat the German boat solidly and now we’re eager to contest the final,” said the Madrid-born paddler. “The strategy worked out just as we had planned before the race and we felt good. Looking ahead to the final, we’ll have to push a bit more, which we can do, and we’re optimistic about fighting for the top spots in what’s going to be a beautiful, hard-fought final, where all rivals are in great shape, but we’re at our best,” added a pleased Joan Toni.

In the afternoon, the first to qualify for the final were the women’s K4 500. Ouzande, Val, Fernández and Pardo won their heat and will fight for gold tomorrow, Friday, starting at 3:18 p.m. Bárbara Pardo saw the semifinal round as a positive experience: “We weren’t completely satisfied with yesterday’s heat and didn’t feel the way we expected, so today’s semifinal was very good for us and it’s going to give us much more strength to face tomorrow’s final.”

Next, Laura Pedruelo also earned a well-deserved ticket to the K1 1000 final. She had a tough semifinal but did an excellent job, going under 4 minutes (3:58.26) to win her heat and face the best tomorrow, Friday, starting at 3:32 p.m. The paddler from Duryus Zamora was more than happy with her performance: “One more step forward, I’m very happy and super excited. Honestly, I’m feeling great in this championship and tomorrow I’ll go for more. In the morning I have the K1 500 semifinal and in the afternoon the 1000 final. After winning the bronze medal at the European Championships a month ago, I’m facing this final with a lot of motivation and enthusiasm.”

The last to qualify for Final A was Pablo Graña in the C1 200. He competed in a demanding semifinal, but his quality prevailed in the final meters to win his heat. Tomorrow he will fight for gold at 3:40 p.m. “It was a very tough semifinal against the current world champion,” said Graña, “but qualifying for the final gives me very good chances to fight tomorrow for the medals and for gold.”

The rest of the Spanish team also lived up to expectations. Victoriia Yarchevska finished second in her C1 200 heat. The paddler from Club Pinatarense earned a place in the semifinals, which will take place on Saturday, August 23 at 9:50 a.m.

Debuting at a senior World Championship, Nerea García also booked a spot in the semifinals of the sprint kayak. The Santiagotarrak paddler finished fourth in her K1 200 heat and will fight for a place in the final from lane two in Saturday’s semifinal at 9:30 a.m.

Also, Mallorcan paddler Álex Graneri, from the Real Club Náutico de Palma, won his heat convincingly to advance to Saturday’s semifinal starting at 10:10 a.m. In the last two events of the morning, the men’s and women’s K2 500 also met their objectives. Estefanía Fernández and Begoña Lazcano secured third place in their heat, while Enrique Adán and Carlos García finished fourth. Both boats advance to the semifinals: the women will race on Saturday, August 23 at 10:46 a.m. and the men at 11:03 a.m.

In Paracanoe, Spain only had two competitors. Inés Felipe in VL2 and Juan Antonio Valle in KL3. The paddler from Club Pacense finished fourth and will have to race in the semifinals, while Valle could not even get off the starting blocks due to a storm that broke out over Milan, postponing the races until the next day.

Today, August 22, the boats will have six medal opportunities: the C2 500 of Victoriia Yarchevska and María dels Àngels Moreno, the K1 1000 of Laura Pedruelo, the C1 200 of Pablo Graña, and the K4 500 of Del Río, Graneri, Arévalo and Germade, as well as the women’s K4 500 of Ouzande, Vall, Fernández and Pardo.