Source: Angling Trust
Drennan Team England showed why they are ranked number one in the world by not only winning the gold medal but also by taking a number of individual honours with Steve Hemingray winning silver and Alan Scotthorne taking the bronze medal. Both Steve and Alan recorded two section wins over the two days of the Championship but a weight count back saw Didier Delannoy of France take the individual title with 9.845kg, beating Steve Hemingray by 2kg.
The Drennan Team England squad comprised: Alan Scotthorne (South Yorkshire), Will Raison (Aldershot), Sean Ashby (Derbyshire), Des Shipp (Bristol), Steve Hemingray (Leicestershire), Steve Gardener (Surrey) with joint team managers Mark Downes and Mark Addy.
The 2013 event saw 36 teams taking part, with the United States putting a team into the World Championships for the first time in years and England went into the event with the impression that bleak were going to be the main species, and for the first few days of practice that looked the case, but as the week progressed the bleak got fewer and fewer and by the end of the week, although it still looked as if the event would be dominated by small fish, roach, averaging 35g and plaquetts (a small bream) averaging 25g were the dominant species.
Practice had shown that the venue had developed into an ‘English Style’ canal match so the tactics were formulated accordingly: seven balls of dark Sensas Terre de Somme with 10% Sensas Black Lake with 200ml of joker cupped at 13m, seven balls of a light black peaty leam plus Terre de Somme with 200ml of Joker cupped at 10 to 11m (the bottom was very soft in some areas and this settled on top of the silt), and three balls of peat and leam with 50ml of Joker at 6m.
The team started at 6m and worked all three lines over the four hours of the match, catching three or four fish on each line before switching. Topping up only occurred if the line really began to fish well, if not then it was a matter of simply being patient and moving about. The team soon discovered that small hooks and baits were essential and two to four joker on the hook proved to be better than a single, small bloodworm.
Day one saw Team England record four section wins and a third for an excellent total of seven points. It was still all to play for on day two but Team England had a clear advantage from the first day’s performance; although by then everyone else had sussed the England approach and were copying it. Despite this the team put in another excellent performance, with only Will Raison struggling on the difficult A Section.
Mark Downes commented:
“The week went like a dream; the team fished brilliantly, the venue was great but, most importantly, we had a fabulous entourage of helpers – all of whom contributed to this great win.
The last two years have been tough for the team; the venues were hard, the species alien and the tactics obscure to us, and that will happen more and more as time goes on, but when we are given a venue that half suits our style we are hard to beat.”
Mark Addy added:
“The team and helpers worked well this year, we were ahead of the game from day one and we stayed there.”
Dick Clegg, International Events Manager, said:
“Unfortunately I was unable to attend this year’s World Championships for the first time in 30 years, and am absolutely gutted to have missed what was obviously a fantastic team performance.
I can only congratulate all of the squad including the management and bank runners who between them got the tactics spot on. I am, however, disappointed for Steve Gardener who, for the first time since 1987 in Portugal, had to sit it out for both days in a major championships.
Well done to Steve Hemingray with a perfect 2 points on his first World Champs and of course to Alan Scotthorne with his 2 point bronze finish.”
Team Result
1st England – 22 points
2nd France – 33 points
3rd Poland – 39 points
4th Belgium – 47 points
Individual Result and Team England Placings
1st Didier Delannoy, France – 2 points (9.845kg)
2nd Steve Hemingray, England – 2 points (8.475kg)
3rd Alan Scotthorne, England – 2 points (7.275kg)
4th Muris Djug, Bosnia Herzegovina – 3 points (6.840kg)
6th Sean Ashby, England – 3 points (4.385kg)
10th Des Shipp, England – 5 points (7.355kg)
33rd Will Raison, England – 10 points (4.780kg)
