After a year of disappointment in English Sport the England Coarse Angling team emphatically became World Champions for 2006 beating off competition from 32 of the Worlds best teams. Competing in the World Championships on the Rio Mondego in Portugal over the last week, Drennan Team England put in a World Class performance to claim the title for the second successive year.

The competition which lasted over two days saw Drennan Team England get off to a great start on Day One brushing aside the competition with a brilliant 16 points well ahead of second placed Hungary who finished the first day with 39 points. One of the favourites of the tournament was Italy, but having a dismal first day ruined any chance of emulating their footballing counterparts with a point’s tally of 66 giving them a mountain to climb.

With the England team taking a commanding lead on Day One where only a catastrophe would have displaced them from top spot. With 2^nd place in their sections for Steve Gardener and William Raison, England had a great foundation to build on. This was supported by a 3^rd section place from Sean Ashby, 4^th from Stuart Conroy and 5^th from Des Shipp who came in for Alan Scotthorne.

The catch of the competition proved to be mullet and black bass with the team claiming 29,935 (g) worth of fish. They used Terre de Riviere and Grey Leam feeding joker to catch their fish giving them the World Championship victory.

On Day Two of the Championships England knew they had a convincing lead but still gave 110% with Sean Ashby winning his section helping him land a well deserved Bronze medal in the Individual contest.

With a point score of 45 on day two England finished with 61 points overall, a whole 24 points ahead of their nearest rival Italy. The Italians came back from a disappointing Day One with an astonishing 19 points on the second day hauling themselves back into the frame. Second place Hungary ended up with 101 points overall to claim the bronze medal.

The Hungarian bronze medal in the team contest was added to the Individual title won by Tamas Walter with 4 points and a weight of 10,105 (g). Second place individually went to Ivan Biordi from San Marino who also finished with 4 points and a final weight of 7,435 (g). England showed what a team effort it was by having three anglers in the top 10 individual standings with Sean Ashby taking home a bronze medal after his section win on day 2.

The NFA Co-Senior International Team Manager Mark Downes stated, “It has been an excellent week for the England team. Considering the team have been fishing for species that they had no knowledge of, and not fished the waters before. It just proves that on any water, using any bait and catching any species that we are better than any other team. There can now be no doubt that the England team is now the best in the world!”

Team Results

Individual Results