English match angling can add another name to its long list of individual world champions after Helen Dagnall took gold in the Ladies World Championships on Serbia’s Dunavac Canal with a three-point tally, although the win was a tempered a little by the team ending up sixth after a fine second day performance.
Recording a section second on Saturday and then a win on Sunday, Warrington-based Helen got the nod on total weight after tying with Polish angler Kamila Kowalska-Justa, her 17-480 aggregate winning by over five kilos.
The win is Helen’s first individual medal in 23 years of fishing for England, a medal that although she is rightly delighted with, is one that she would gladly swap for a team gong. That said, if you’re going to win one medal, it might as well be gold!
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“I’ve seen the likes of Sandra Scotthorne and Emma Pickering win gold before and they’ve all said it never really sinks in, and it hasn’t yet!” the 45-year-old said.
“After the whistle on day two, my bankrunner Rob Wright was adamant I’d won a medal, which I saw as a bonus. I was more interested in how the team had done to be honest!”
Day one saw Cadence-backed Helen take second in D section with 6-550 of mainly skimmers and pommies on long pole with bloodworm over groundbait, day two putting her on A section one peg away from where teammate Kayleigh Dowd was on Saturday.
With a change in tactics of going for bleak early, Helen caught well but was soon onto that 11.5m line where the skimmers were waiting. Catching steadily, the scales registered 10-980 for the win – and then the waiting began!
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Sadly, for the team, the news wasn’t so good, a big 43-point score on day one putting them in ninth with seemingly only pride to fish for. The sting of Saturday’s performance certainly made an impression, as a superb 26 points on Sunday got them third overall on the day and moved them up into sixth spot overall, some way off a shot at a medal but a display that restored confidence and pride.
Aside from champion Helen, England’s next-best performer was Leanne Knott with 11 points, winning her section on day two. Kayleigh Dowd banked 15 points with a fifth and eighth in section, Sam Sim 16 points thanks to 13 points on Saturday and a fine third in section 24 hours later.
Abbi Kendall fished day one and ended up thirteenth in section, seeing her make way for debutant May Potter on Sunday, who returned an identical score after her first taste of international match angling.
Team result: 1 Croatia, 26pts; 2 Italy, 50; 3 Poland, 51.5; 4 Hungary, 57; 5 Czech Republic, 61; 6 England, 69; 7 Netherlands, 70; 8 France, 79; 9 Belgium, 81; 10 Serbia, 85; 11 Slovakia, 89.5; 12 Spain, 90; 13 Germany, 116; 14 Finland, 125.
Individual result: 1 H Dagnall, England, 3pts (17-480); 2 K Kowalska-Justa, Poland, 3 (12-430); 3 M Mutak, Croatia, 4 (13-600); 4 S Mertens, Belgium, 4 (13-350); 5 S Orejski, Croatia, 4 (12-790); 6 S Strbad, Croatia, 5.
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