International success is so often measured only by medals around necks, and while the three England teams competing in this year’s World Champs in Slovenia returned with a few gongs, it’s the experience gained that will prove more worthwhile in the long run.
The SSB Law-backed Under 20 side took second spot behind Hungary, and also saw Callum Jennings take the individual silver behind Irishman Charlie Richards. The Sensas Under 25 and Guru Under 15 sides both ended up in fourth place, as France and Italy took the golds in their events.
But managers Mark Downes, Jason Kirk and Joe Roberts have been around long enough to know that the teams’ performances will stand them in good stead for the coming years, with the experience gained helping to improve the anglers as they work their way through the respective age groups. They’ll also point to rogue big fish landed elsewhere in the match that denied them medals.
Under 20s World Angling Championships (Sat & Sun)
River Sava, Radece, Slovenia (14 teams)
Second after day one was a good place to be for the Under 20s and with five minutes to go on Sunday, gold seemed to be in the bag – until Hungarian anglers on A and D sections landed catfish to shoot themselves up the sections and nick points.
Those points made a big difference, as the Hungarians took gold on 32pts to the 41pts of England. But that failed to spoil what was a tremendous week for the anglers and management, and one that signals a very bright future ahead for the group.
Fielding a team of four made up of individual silver medallist Callum Jennings, Billy Kirk, Josh Derry and Will McCranor, Harry Keys and Josh Duffy were the two not to fish, but they joined an army of helpers and bankrunners to keep the information streaming in to manager Jason Kirk.
“There were few big fish to go for, so we ignored them and worked out a way to catch the bigger stamp of vimba on the long pole, feeding soil and groundbait with casters and a bit of chopped worm. I think it was those casters that made the difference,” Jason said. “We had a shorter line for tiny fish at the start, but there was little point in fishing for them on most pegs and we were soon out at 11.5m.”
Scoring 21pts on Saturday with a section second for Callum, a third for Billy, fifth for Josh and 11th for Will, Jason kept the same team for Sunday and changed nothing, and it so nearly worked save for those last-minute cats. A 20pt score cemented silver and left all involved extremely proud after a long week on the river, with the added joy of seeing Callum win silver individually.
“Support on the bank was so important, and we managed to get almost two runners in each section keeping tabs on things, so thanks to my partner Sam Sim, Callum’s dad Iain and Josh’s dad Pete Duffy, Nick Moss and Andy Jones-Wootton and his daughter Lottie,” Jason said. “It was a real team effort, not only one the bank but also getting up at 4.30am each morning to sort the bait and drive to the river!”
Last-gasp carp costs Jennings the gold medal
Evesham 19-year-old Callum Jennings ended the weekend on 4pts courtesy of two section wins, being denied gold and the title of world champ on total weight by Irish lad Charlie Richards. He totalled 4pts but had 8-512 in the bag over the two matches against the 7-791 of Callum.
Callum could have ended up with the gold around his neck had it not been for a 5kg carp landed by an angler two pegs away from him on day two which deprived him of the section win.
Callum got stuck into the task in hand on day one, fishing the whip and short pole at 6m just past the marginal weed on peg 11 of B section. He had 117 small fish, mainly bleak and vimba with a few tiny carassio. That gave him second with 1-810, over 3kg winning the section.
“I couldn’t fish the long pole because of the weed, but because I was catching steadily on the whip and short line, I didn’t see any need to come off it” Callum explained. “It was the ideal start. Day two was totally different, even though I was back in B section on peg 7, just four pegs away.”
“This time the weed had gone at 11.5m so I could fish easily there,” he revealed. “Even though I wasn’t in an area with any form for carassio, I ended up catching 15 of them plus a few small fish to weigh 5-974.”
Individual result: 1 C Richards, Ireland, 4pts (8-512); 2 C Jennings, SSB Law Team England, 4 (7-791); 3 K Rozic-Sostar, Slovenia, 4 (6-445); 4 S Smanyi, Hungary, 6 (9-511); 5 H Nagy, Hungary, 6 (4-080); 6 L Zsiga, Hungary, 7.
Under 25s World Angling Championships (Sat & Sun)
River Sava, Radece, Slovenia (13 teams)
For the Under 25s side of highly experienced anglers, it was day one that promised much, as they finished in third spot with 18pts. However, Sunday’s match didn’t go as planned and 29.5pts saw them relegated to fourth, but only 0.5pt off a medal as France won.
Josh Newman, Dean Jacques and Jordan Holloway fished both days, Andy Cranston coming in for Owen Robinson on day two. Josh was the best performer in tenth after winning his section on day one to score 6.5pts, Dean taking seventeenth with 12 points and Jordan chipping in with 14pts.
“We’re bitterly disappointed to miss out by 0.5pts after having worked so hard or 10 days and it’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we’ve been around long enough to know that this is what happens in team fishing – a lost fish here, a lucky fish there,” said manager Mark Downes.
“If there was one thing that cost us, I think it was the pegs we drew in A section,” he continued. “There’s a run of nine pegs that are 8m deep and normally dreadful and we were bang in the middle of them on both days. That’s cost us 20pts. On a steady peg I’d back the lads to score well.
“As an example of how bad it was, the Italian angler there on day two was last in section until he landed an 8kg zander! That took points of us and scored a lot for them, but that’s how it goes – in the coming years, we’ll be the ones to benefit from a bit of good luck.”
Team result: 1 France, 17pts; 2 Italy, 33; 3 Poland, 47; 4 Sensas Team England, 47.5; 5 Hungary, 49; 6 Serbia, 52 (28-256); 7 Spain, 52 (26-376); 8 Netherlands, 59; 9 Germany, 61; 10 Croatia, 72.5; 11 Belgium, 77; 12 Portugal, 78; 13 Slovenia, 81.
Individual result: 1 N Renard, France, 3pts; 2 A Chambon, France, 4 (12-088); 3 A Lorenzi, Italy, 4 (8-272); 4 L Thirion, France, 5 (10-996); 5 P Bako, Hungary, 5 (10-867); 6 I Grujic, Serbia, 5 (10-517).
Under 15s World Angling Championships (Sat & Sun)
River Sava, Radece, Slovenia (9 teams)
With handsome backing from tackle giants Guru and England men Matt Godfrey and James Dent on the banks to help, no stone was left unturned in the Under 15s quest for gold and while no-one could catch winners Italy, there was just 7pts between second-placed France and England in fourth.
Fielding a squad of Alfie Nicholls, Barnaby Newman, Alfie Swieton, James Geddes and Harry Boothby, Alfie ended up as top scorer in sixth overall with 7pts as he took a fifth and second in section, Barnaby and Alfie making the top 20 with 10pts apiece and Harry coming in for James on day two.
A 22pt score on day one wasn’t the best start, but England were still within range of bronze and they pooled what they’d learned on Saturday for a much-improved 17pts on day two to see them climb the rankings and just miss out.
“We were very unlucky not to be on the podium and although it’s been hard work, the main thing I can say is that everyone involved has put 110 per cent effort in and we’re super proud of the team,” said captain Matt Godfrey.
Team result: 1 Italy, 12pts; 2 France, 32; 3 Spain, 35; 4 Guru Team England, 39 (14-724); 5 Slovenia, 39 (14-102);6 Hungary, 47; 7 Serbia, 48; 8 Poland, 53; 9 Croatia, 55.
Individual result: 1 M Fagioli, Italy, 2pts; 2 F Fiorelli, Italy, 3 (7-672); 3 R Gerola, Italy, 3 (7-521); 4 R Delattre, France, 4 (6-148); 5 A Fraile, Spain, 4 (5-882); 6 A Nicholls, Guru Team England, 7.
