On the same river as the Veterans event won by England but half a mile downstream the 17th FIPSed Disabled Championships were held.
Using similar tactics to the Veterans the England team targeted bleak at the start but because the match was only 3 hours and England had 2 anglers with only one arm it was always going to be difficult to match Italy, Croatia and Portugal.
Carp would obviously play a big part in the teams tactics and during practice a good number had been landed on both pole and waggler. Maggot on waggler and corn on pole would be the best method to attain a good weight, but big fish can’t be relied on to make an appearance in all sections and so it was.
Tactically though it was always going to give the team the best chance of a podium place but although this didn’t happen England did get an individual medal in the shape of Bill Galt.
Bill managed to finish second in his section on both days by catching carp on waggler and pole finishing with 4 points and a bronze medal.
Team England Disabled squad;
Manager John Weeden
Coach Mick Cove
Helpers Tony Troth, Mark Wells, Ian Turner
Team Alan Chadbone, Mark Eves, Mick Cove, Bill Galt.
Reserve Gary Bull.
On both the first and second day England finished with 18 points which was disappointing as during practice the team had caught a lot of big fish in the latter half of the match but at is often the case big fish can’t always be reliable to make a show.
The best team performance was a second day 7 points total by Italy as their anglers won 3 of the 4 sections.
Team England Results Individuals; Bill Galt 2+2 total 4 points
Mark Eves 5+3 total 8 points
Alan Chadbone 6+6 12 points
Mick Cove 5+7 12 points
Reserve Gary Bull
Individuals Results;
Gold Joao Rodrigues 2 points Portugal
Silver Oscar Ferrari 4 points Itay 12.650 kilos
Bronze Bill Galt 4 points 12.058 kilos
Teams Results;
Gold Portugal 24 points 22.332 kilos
Silver Croatia 24 points 17.101 kilos
Bronze Italy 25.5 points
Both the Veterans and Disabled anglers would like to thank everyone who supported their fund raising activities without which it would be extremely difficult to compete in these championships.
