Kiwi eights miss out on spots for finals

There won’t be a New Zealand boat in either eights final at the world rowing championships in Bulgaria.

The Kiwi women’s eight surprisingly missed out on a place in the six-boat A final when they finished fifth in their repechage in Plovdiv yesterday.

Needing a top-two finish in their repechage to qualify for tomorrow night’s final, the NZ men’s eight were fifth of five boats.

There were greater expectations of the women’s eight, which had claimed a silver and a gold in their two World Cup regattas in Europe earlier this year.

But they failed to overcome a slow start, despite a desperate effort to make up ground on the four boats ahead of them. They finished 0.16sec behind fourthplaced Great Britain in 6min 4.79sec, with the Netherlands winning from Romania and Canada.

There was also a late scare for men’s single sculler Robbie Manson, who grabbed the third and final qualifying place in his semifinal.

The favourite to win gold after being the dominant World Cup performer in his class, Manson looked set to chase down Norway’s Kjetil Borch and win the semi but eventually had to stave off Denmark’s Sverri Nielsen to hold on to third.

The men’s pair of Michael Brake and Tom Murray put in a strong performance to loom as medal prospects. Needing a topthree finish to make the final, the Kiwis led for most of the 2000 metres before finishing a closethird behind Romania and Spain in 6:22.20.

Brooke Donoghue and Olivia Loe will be out to make it back-toback world titles in the women’s double sculls final after they were second in their semifinal. They finished in 6:51.60 to be 0.32sec behind the US crew of Meghan O’Leary and Ellen Tomek.

Last year’s men’s double sculls world champs Chris Harris and John Storey will defend their title tomorrow night after they were second in their semifinal in 6:08.00, 1.41sec behind winners Angus Groom and Jack Beaumont of Great Britain.

Women’s single sculler Hannah Osborne missed out on the A final when she was fifth in her semifinal.

Five Kiwi crews will be in A final action tonight (NZT) – the men’s pair, the defending world champion women’s pair of Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast, lightweight women’s double scullers Jackie Kiddle and Zoe McBride, lightweight men’s double scullers Matt Dunham and Ben van Dalen, and the men’s quad of Nathan Flannery, Mahe Drysdale, Cameron Crampton and Lewis Hollows.

Manson, Harris and Storey and Donoghue and Loe will contest their A finals tomorrow night (NZT).