Kayaking: Kiwis fail to make A finals

Ben Fouhy will race in the B final after finishing fifth in his semifinal. Photo / Kenny Rodger

Ben Fouhy and the rest of the New Zealand men were left in the wake of kayaking's elite paddlers on the first day of the world championships in Poland overnight (NZT).

In very disappointing return, none of New Zealand's three crews qualified for A finals at Poznan, rubbing salt in the wounds of a campaign which has already drawn negative press.

Former Olympic silver medallist Fouhy, who has fallen out with head coach Ian Ferguson, was 25th fastest in the K1 1000m heats and improved to be ninth-quickest in the semifinals.

After several months of solo preparation away from the rest of the New Zealand team, Fouhy was pleased with the fifth placing in his semifinal, which qualifies him for tonight's (NZT) B final.

He has been battling a wrist injury in training and had to adjust to challenging, big-wave conditions on Lake Malta.

His heat time of three minutes 37.339 seconds was more than 10sec down on top qualifier Adam Van Koeverden of Canada. The controversial Aucklander improved by more than 5sec in his semifinal.

"Realistically it's what we could expect and I feel very positive that we were able to make the most of our situation," he told Radio Sport.

Men's K2 1000m pairing of multiple Olympian Steven Ferguson and Troy Burbidge were 17th quickest in heats and 18th best in the semifinals in a disappointing return.

The K4 1000m of Michael Walker, Liam O'Loughlin, Frederick Teear, Darryl Fitzgerald were the 13th fastest crew in the heats and improved one spot in the semifinals.

New Zealand's women take to the water tonight, including K1 500m Olympian Erin Taylor, while there will be high hopes Teneale Hatton and Lisa Carrington can go close to repeating their K2 500m World Cup win in France earlier this year.

New Zealand results:

Men

K1 1000m: Heats - Adam Van Koeverden (Canada) 3min 31.638sec 1, Rene Holten Poulsen (Denmark) 3:32.026 2, Tim Brabants (Great Britain) 3:32.758 3. Also: BEN FOUHY (NZ) 3:42.866 25

Semifinals - FOUHY 3:37.339 9

K2 1000m: Heats - Fernando Pimenta/Joao Ribeiro (Portugal) 3:15.049 1=, Ilya Medvedev/Anton Ryakhov (Russia) 3:15.049 1=, Reinier Torres Riveaux/Camilo Montalvo Garcia (Cuba) 3:15.793 3. Also: STEVEN FERGUSON/TROY BURBIDGE (NZ) 3:20.505 17

Semifinals - FERGUSON/BURBIDGE 3:20.180 18

K4 1000m: Heats - France 2:54.207 1, Germany 2:55.276 2, Belarus 2:56.678 3. Also: NEW ZEALAND (Michael Walker, Liam O'Loughlin, Frederick Teear, Darryl Fitzgerald) 2:59.968 13

Semifinals - NEW ZEALAND 2:59.629 12

- NZPA