The rich history of the World Championships is strewn with memorable matches, great comebacks and unlikely winners, but it will never has witnessed what unfolded in the FIPSed Youth event on Serbia’s DTD Canal this month!
Blighted by thick floating duckweed throughout the practice week, organisers took the unprecedented measure of cancelling the second day of the Under 15s and Under 20s event as the venue was completely unfishable, not that England’s representatives – the Angling Trust Guru Under 15s and Beechfield Headwear Under 20s – were complaining though.
The decision meant that day one’s match result would be the final one, which meant gold for both teams alongside Barnaby Newman being crowned Under 15s individual champion and Charlie Drinkwater runner-up as the two lads finished first and second overall on that opening day.
One team that did manage to fish a full two days was the Sensas England Under 25s side, but they had a bit of a mountain to climb after day one’s fourth place, failing to put a dent in the lead of those above them on Saturday’s match to remain in fourth spot overall.
Starting with the Under 15s, the four-angler team of Barnaby, Charlie, Alfie Swieton and Tommy Higginbottom, aided by Charlie Isaacs on bank running duties and led by Matt Godfrey, James Dent, and Billy Reynolds, scored eight points with section wins from Barnaby and Charlie, a second from Alfie and fourth from Tommy.
That put them six points in front of Spain and seven clear of France, which unbeknown to anybody, was how the match would end up finishing!
Barnaby took 2-396 from peg 5 in D section, Charlie snapping at his heels with 2-093 from peg 8 in B section, Alfie bagging 1-683 off peg 3 in A section and Tommy 1-373 at C section peg 4, all four anglers getting their heads down to fish for small fish at 10m, which was the only place in the peg which was weed free.
That left Mark Downes’ England U25s, who ending day one in fourth. Their 28 points saw them 15 adrift of the Netherlands in third and despite an improved 25 points on Sunday, it was asking too much. The final score of 53 points was 26 away from Italy in third, the Netherlands winning on 23 points with France nabbing silver on 25.
Top man for the Under 25s was Barnaby’s older brother Josh, who just missed out on individual bronze with four points from his section third and a first.
Lewis Bray and Will McCranor tallied 13 points apiece, scoring a seventh and sixth and fifth and eighth respectively, Yestyn Septhon’s 13 points on day one seeing him make way for Josh Derry on Sunday, which saw him return with 10 points.
“It’s been a shambles,” said U20s boss Jason Kirk. “Our start time was put back twice, and we then had someone in each peg pulling weed out with a landing net while the anglers were trying to fish! There was then a massive row about floating poles on the water to create a boom, and in the end, the match was cancelled. It’s not the way you want to win a world champs, I have to say.
“Our match lasted an hour and by that point the canal was like a bowling green with bank-to-bank weed!” revealed U15s Manager Matt Godfrey. “We had a captain’s meeting, left it an hour, but if anything, the weed was worse, so it was cancelled. It all came down to a one-day match!”
* The Angling Trust would like to thank all the management teams, support crews, parents, media, and of course the anglers for their dedication and continued support of our England Youth teams. The journey starts on the Talent Pathway and includes assessment days, coaching sessions, and of course the World Championships – a proper team effort!
