The Angling Trust’s Anglers with Disabilities England Team took part in the 11th Freshwater World Championships at Ponte De Sor, Portugal on 8th-9th August 2009. The Sor River at Ponte De Sor is clear water and slow stream with the main fish specimens present being Barbel, Bogas, Carps and Bleaks.
The World Champion squad consisted of anglers who had earlier in the year taken part in selection matches that were fished to international rules to help identify anglers who are of international calibre. Fishing at international level is completely different to the way anglers normally fish in this country, and the selection matches gave the anglers the opportunity to prove their skills to deliver success at Ponte De Sor. The squad selected to take part in the World Championships consisted of; Stefan Gent, Mark Eves, Alan Chadbone, Andy Lakey, Terry Naulls, and England Manager, Joe Roberts.
Joe Roberts, England Manager stated “On day one the top three teams all fished for bleak with weights up to 3kg. England started for bleak, but started slipping behind the leading teams after 1 ½ hours, so changed their method to waggler and long pole feeding Hemp seed, the team managed to pull it back finishing the first day in 5th place.
On day two the team started for bleak but only for 20 minutes, then changed onto another method for waggler and long pole, going ahead and winning day two with 9 points. The team gelled really well together and I was a little concerned on day one, but the team managed to pull it back on day two and take the bronze medal position and win 3rd place overall. I would like to thank Drennan for donating tackle to the team and offer our appreciation for their support.”
Day 1
1st Slovenia 12 pts
2nd Bosnia 12 pts
3rd Croatia 12 pts
4th France 15 pts
5th England 21 ½ pts
Day 2
1st England 9 pts
2nd Slovenia 10 pts
3rd Czech Rep 15 pts
4th Croatia 18 pts
Overall
1st Slovenia
2nd Croatia
3rd England
4th Bosnia
5th Czech Republic
6th France
7th Italy
8th Belgium
9th Portugal
Individuals
1st Rade Kelecevic – Bosnia
2nd Rudolf Centrih – Slovenia
3rd Ota Petracek – Czech Republic
6th Andy Lakey – England
8th Stefan Gent – England
10th Alan Chadbone – England
Click on www.total-fishingclub.com – the UK’s No1 online match fishing club – to win a trip to the world match fishing championships, and save money off tackle
