Mark Addy has become the first individual World Veterans Champion following the inaugural F.I.P.S.ed organised Veterans World Championships which took place on the River Tamega in northern Portugal last weekend (12th and 13th July). The team also put in a great performance winning bronze at the championships narrowly missing out on silver.

The Championships treated spectators to a great competition which saw England add another World Championship to their achievements and underlining the rich pool of talent which we have across all age groups in this country. With Matt Godfrey winning the World Youth Championships and Alan Scotthorne winning the Nations (previously Senior) Championship last year, Mark Addy has now opened the 2008 medal account in emphatic style.

To win his individual gold, Mark was continually under pressure from the host nation Portugal who put in a number of superb performances to push Mark all the way. Mark eventually won the match with two points overall and a final weight of 18.430kg; however the Portuguese were close behind with Manuel Jorge who also finished with two points, and slightly lower weight of 16.990kg.

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In third place was another Portuguese angler Vieira Ferreira, who finished with three points and a weight of 23.655kg. The level of dominance by the Portuguese was for all to see as out of the top seven, four were from the host nation and in the team classification they won gold comfortably with 13 points and a combined weight of 67.435kg.

Their nearest rival was Hungary who won silver finishing seven points behind the winners on 20 points and 49.710kg. England’s success was not restricted to the individual medal table as the team also put in a great performance to take bronze. The team narrowly missed out on the silver medal and finished one point behind Hungary on 21 and a superior weight to Hungary of 50.145kg.

Talking to Dick Clegg after the Championships, he commented, “The whole squad was great to work with and Joe Roberts the Team Manager has done a great job. It is always hard to beat Portugal on their own water, so it was great to see Mark win gold and for the team to only just miss out on a silver medal. I was delighted with the way the team pulled together and created a superb atmosphere within the camp, which all contributed to an overall great team performance. I would also like to thank all the tackle companies and angling community who have helped with our fundraising for this team, and without their support we would not have been able to achieve this year’s success.”

With the success of 2008, the team will be looking to replicate their success in next year’s competition where we are looking to host the championships in 2009.