Carp Team England staged an amazing come back at the Sport Fishing World Games in South Africa to record a 5th place finish against all of the odds.
Thousands of people across the world watched one of the most historic come-backs in the history of World Class as the drama unfold through social media. Statistics recorded 175,000 views as England staged their comeback.
24 nations were competing in the 72 hour endurance event making of the biggest discipline in whole of the world games. Home nations South Africa were strong favourites with France, Romania, Australia and England all expected to finish in the upper rankings.
Visiting the water for the first time ever, England did not have the opportunity to practice and were starting on the basis of intelligence gathered. They started on over flavoured feed, a tactic that clearly did not work and after 24 hours they were last on the score sheet.
However, a tactical change and a re-supply of bait saw the Lions roar up the leaderboard at one stage sitting in equal third position. A tight battle on the last day saw world number one’s France, and home favourites South Africa taking the top two slots on the podium, South Africa taking Gold. Romania Australia and England battled for third with Romania securing bronze in the dying hours. The tactical change clearly worked and Karl Pitcher and Harry Charrington, who had blanked for the first 24 hours, recorded the third biggest weight of the 72 pairs, having effectively fished for just 48 hours.
Carp team England Manager Rob Hughes said “It was an incredible performance and it shows the grit and determination that England have to come back from such a poor start. It also shows the importance of practice and accurate information, and we will be left wondering what could have been if we had got it right from the start”.
Funding and time restraints meant that England did not have the opportunity to practice prior to the event. England’s 5th place retains their excellent ranking of 3rd in the world and narrows the gap to just 4 points between them and World No 1s France.
Carp Team England Squad
Manager Rob Hughes
Asst Manager Graham Mabey
Pair 1 Karl Pitcher / Harry Charrington
Pair 2 Wayne Mansford / Ryan Need
Pair 3 Billy Flowers / Jamie Londors
Sub Neil Rivers
Press Ru Whiteman
