Quotes from the Friday morning qualifications
Here, we bring the quotes from the morning qualifications of the ECA Canoe Slalom European Championships in Prague.
C2: Ondřej Karlovský: „To be honest, I’m not satisfied very much with the performance. Kuba may agree with me. It didn’t slide so smooth on the water, it cost us a lot of power but finally we have qualified and that’s important.” Jakub Jáně: “First gates weren’t good and we couldn’t get into that. We need to deal with that.”
C2: Ladislav Škantár: “First of all, we are satisfied with the qualifiucation but the performance was not ideal. We made many mistakes but the most difficult parts, we did well. I believe we will reduce the mistakes in the semifinal.” Peter Škantár: “Everybody wants to win. But it will also depend on the construction of the course tomorrow and if we like it. We need to improve because you cvannot win with the two touches.”
C1: Mallory Franklin: “I really enjoyed it although the course is really hard. It was a good fun; there is always a great atmosphere here in Prague. This course has always been one of my favourite. “
C1: Tereza Fišerová: “It was not a completely good performance. But it was all good to get to the next rounds. I hope my performance will improve. You cannot show your best ride already at the beginning. My coach wanted me to paddle not too crazy and just to be careful. I was scared of the combination 15-16 but I managed it well.”
K1: Jiří Prskavec: “It’s good to win the qualification and important thing for me is that I’m in good shape. However, that sureness doesn’t mean anything for the next development. I need to focus on semifinals and I hope for the finals as well.”
K1: Vít Přindiš: “I managed to keep myself calm, that’s important. I felt good, the run was fine, except two useless hits. However, I went the difficult parts without problems. I heard in the finish line that it would work and it worked. My back feels fine, I went at the full speed, there’s no reason to go halfway.”
K1: Ondřej Tunka: “I was looking forward to these races and I couldn’t imagine that I wouldn’t qualify into semifinals. I was nervous in the morning, the waiting for a second run due to rain was awful. I hope I’ll feel better in semifinals, I always like them more than a qualification.”
K1: Peter Kauzer: “It was quite alright, I was still finding myself in gates 10, 11, 12, but finally I’m satisfied. Hopefully I could be fast again and without mistakes. I hope this European Championships won’t be just Czech Championships (laughs). I love the atmosphere here and the way the organizers make this event, there are always lot of people and everyone is cheering, so it pushes you down the course and I always enjoy it very much.”
K1: Hannes Aigner: “It was quiet ok, I am happy with what I do in the first run and I think I did it very good, so I’m satisfied. It’s quite hard to tell what my expectations are – especially here in Prague the race is always really fast and with lot of risks, so I think that anyone can win.”
Pictures: Jan Homolka