| RICHARD AND RENKER CLIMB INTO QUARTER FINALS |
| Thursday, 16 August 2007 |
Cameron Dunn. St moritz Match Race. Copyright photos: Max Ranchi www.maxranchi.com
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St moritz Match Race. Copyright photos: Max Ranchi www.maxranchi.com
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Swiss sailor Matthias Renker won his last two races in the Repechage round to steal a place in the Quarter Finals of the St. Moritz Match Race. Renker had to win his last match over Michael Hestbaek (GER) to qualify over the German. He put a penalty on Hestbaek in the pre-start, and went on to beat him around the race course to become the second Swiss sailor to advance to the Quarter Finals.
“We’re very happy. We just missed making the Quarter Finals yesterday, in a very close final race,” said Matthias Renker, following the match. “Today was very close again, but we made it.”
Mathieu Richard (FRA) sailed a very aggressive Repechage, winning four of his five matches and at times appearing to toy with his opponents. He put three penalties on Renker during their match for example, including two in the pre-start. It was a great turn around for Richard won but a single match in Wednesday’s group Round Robin.
“In match racing one day can be very bad and the next day very good. Today has been good for us and hopefully that continues into the Quarter Final,” Richard said.
Michael Hestbeck finished equal on three points to Renker, but losing their head to head match meant he wouldn’t advance.
Matteo Simoncelli (ITA) needed until the third Flight to win his first match of the competition. He won his next race as well for good measure, but it wasn’t enough to qualify, and the Italian finished the St. Moritz Match Race in 10th place.
It was a hard morning for Staffan Lindberg (FIN) and Evgeny Neugodnikow (RUS) who were eliminated before the final Flight. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t race for pride in the last match of the Repechage. In the event it was Lindberg who got the better of the Russian.
Repechage Results
1. Mathieu Richard 4-1
2. Matthias Renker 3-2
3. Michael Hestbaek 3-2
4. Matteo Simoncelli 2-3
5. Staffan Lindberg 2-3
6. Evgeny Neugodnikov 1-4
Next up is the Quarter Finals, where the two Repechage winners will join the top three teams from each of the Group Round Robin competitions yesterday. Each Quarter Final is a head to head competition, where the first team to score three points (best of five) wins. The top four sailors on the World Match Racing Tour ranking have all advanced to the Quarter Finals, so wins are going to be hard earned.
There are four Quarter Finals, and the Race Committee has scheduled Quarter Finals ‘C’ and ‘D’ for Thursday afternoon.
Quarter Final Pairings
A
Ian Williams (GBR) vs. Matthias Renker (SUI)
B
Eric Monnin (SUI) vs. Jochen Schuemann (GER)
C
Sébastien Col (FRA) vs. Mark Mendelblatt (USA)
D
Paolo Cian (ITA) vs. Mathieu Richard (FRA)
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