Team Bronze and Individual Silver Medals for Irish Shore Angling Team
The World Shore Angling Championships were held in Peniscola, on Spain’s Mediterranean coast last week. The Irish team had travelled over the previous week and put in long hours of practice, getting to know the beaches and species in the area and honing their rigs, bait presentation and tactics. And all the practice paid off handsomely!
Teamwork
The Mediterranean is a tough venue, with totally different conditions and species than our anglers are used to at home. Spain, Italy, France and other southern European nations were the hot favourites. But the Irish team threw a spanner in the works, with a fantastic result on the first day of competition having them leading well, with 3 zone wins and all 5 anglers in the top 11 overall. But it’s a 4-day competition, and the home teams learned from that first day. Day 2 saw Italy put in a strong performance to take over at the top of the leaderboard, with Ireland dropping to 3rd behind Belgium.
Another great performance on Day 3 saw Ireland take 2nd on the day, and move up to 2nd overall, with Italy in a commanding position after another good day for them. It was all to play for on the last day, with any of the top 6 or so teams in with a chance of a podium place. And indeed it was Spain, in 6th place, who leapfrogged several teams into 2nd overall on that final day. Ireland put in a strong performance to take bronze, just one point behind Spain, with Italy taking the overall title.
Congrats to the Irish team of Troy Francis, Chris O’Sullivan, JP Molloy, Derek Kenrick, Tim O’Sullivan and Ciaran Fogarty, with team managers Darren Ryan and Ruairi Coleman providing brilliant support.
Individual Success
The Irish team proved how good theyeach were on Day 1, with 3 zone wins, a 2nd and a 3rd (20 anglers per zone!). Practice had gone well, but a sudden influx of fresh water meant the species they had been catching disappeared, and they had to target other fish. A rig devised by Troy Francis proved very successful and was put to great use by the rest of the team, especially Chris O’Sullivan from Tralee, who went into the final competition day lying in 5th place. A brilliant zone win, and 2nd overall on the day, saw him jump to second place and a world silver medal, behind Spanish angler Juan Canoves. A massive well done to Chris, no stranger to these reports, who has put in huge work over the last few years to make the Irish team.
Pathways
The result on foreign shores is testament to the work put in at all levels by he Irish Federation of Shore Anglers, particularly the coaches of youth and junior teams. A pathway to success at national, youth and senior level, is in place and will hopefully bring continued success for out sea angling teams over the coming years. Well done to all involved!
