Luuka Jones was 12th fastest in her heat to comfortably progress. PHOTO/FILE
It was a day of mixed fortunes for Tauranga paddlers at the canoe slalom world championships in Pau, France.
The top Kiwi kayaker at the event, Luuka Jones, has continued her strong form overnight, qualifying for the semifinals of the K1.
Jones, the reigning Olympic silver medallist, was comfortably inside
the top 20 who progressed automatically from the first heat at the course in Pau. Even with a 2sec penalty for clipping gate 19, she was 12th-fastest with a time of 90.65secs. Without the penalty, her raw time would have placed her in the top five.
Her K1 showing came a day after she also qualified 12th in the C1 discipline and Jones was delighted to have minimised a busy week by not having to go through the repechage rounds.
"It was a solid run but nothing fancy - it's just great to get the job done without exerting too much energy in a second run," Jones said.
