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CHAMPIONSHIPS
K1 JUNIOR WOMEN
The junior women was where one of the hometown favourites could be found . Makinley Kate Hargrove of the USA lives by the feature and has grown up paddling on it . Unfortunately , in the heats , Issie Wormall missed out , coming 16th . The semi-finals saw another shift in positions . Ireland ’ s Leah Hough shot up the rankings and into fifth place with a big first run , showing that her time in Canada was paying off . Makinley brought the challenge to Canada ’ s Sophie Gilfillan , putting a run down almost triple of Sophies and taking the win . Niamh Macken came close to her second international final , finishing in sixth place , whilst Sienna enjoyed her chance to paddle a semi-final on her debut , scoring points again and finishing 11th . A commanding first run from Makinley took her straight to the top of the podium . Sophie pushed with her second run , only 20 points off the win . Eleanor Knight threw a big final run to enter the bronze medal position .
K1 JUNIOR MEN
Returning World Champion Tim Rees from Germany was aiming to be the first junior man to retain the title ; however , the surprise of the round came from GB ’ s Jool Gardener ; on his international debut , he took it to the world champion and bettered him by over 300 points ! Timmy Hill also performed well enough to make it to the semi-finals , landing in fourth place . In the semi-final , Jools looked to replicate the big air , but the tricks weren ’ t quite able to stick in the feature , which was an unexpected departure for him . In the final , Tim became the first-ever junior man to retain the title ! Onni Eronen of Finland also laid down his biggest ride on his first try , landing him in the silver medal spot . GB ’ s Timmy Hill risked it all on run three and laid down his biggest run yet . This nudged him ahead of Matteo and onto the podium for a bronze medal .
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