Source: Pentathlon GB

Samantha Murray and Kate French qualify for Friday’s Final

  • +1

Pentathlon GB’s Samantha Murray and Kate French both qualified for the Women’s Modern Pentathlon World Championships Final in Moscow today as teammates Freyja Prentice and Jo Muir unfortunately missed out on a place in Friday’s showpiece, the final qualifying event before the Rio Olympics.

Berlin, 2 July 2015: Day 4 of the Modern Pentathlon Senior World Championships. Day 4 qualifying women. The World Championships goes from 29 June until 5 July 2015.

Kate French (Photo: Pentathlon GB)

Former World Champion Murray and 2016 World Cup Final qualifier Prentice were both placed in semi-final group A and started their competition in the fencing salle. The duo had contrasting fortunes though with Murray continuing her fine World Championships form by picking up 16 victories and 8 defeats on her way to an impressive 3rd place finish in the Group. Prentice started well but suffered a disappointing final five rounds meaning she ended up 23rd in her group with 9 victories and 14 defeats.

The pair then moved to the pool where Murray’s time of 2:09.95 produced another 3rd place, moving her to the top of group standings ahead of the closing combined event. Prentice’s 2:23.70 was just 0.55 seconds outside her season’s best from the Rio de Janeiro World Cup in March and 21st quickest in the group meaning she remained 23rd in the overall standings.

Starting from the front, Clitheroe born Murray cruised around the 3200m course, eventually crossing the line in 5th to safely secure her place in the final. Prentice produced a brilliant combined event of 12:12.04, the 2nd quickest in the group, to move up to 17th. Unfortunately the damage had already been done with her low fencing score meaning she never regained her lost ground and missed out on a place in the final 36.

Gravesend’s French was placed in Qualifying Group B and also started her day with fencing.  A consistent display throughout with some fantastic hits meant she finished the discipline in 4th place with 15 victories and just 9 defeats.

Another strong performance in the swim meant French started the combined event in 5th, 12 seconds behind group leader, Germany’s Janine Kohlmann. A disciplined performance in the first 2400m meant the Brit could ease through the final shoot and 800m loop, eventually crossing the line at the head of the field alongside Lithuanian Gintare Venckauskaite to qualify for Friday’s final.

Monday’s Women’s Relay silver medallist Muir was in Group C and began her day in impressive style with a 2:14.82 swim, the 6th quickest in her group. The Dumfriesshire born athlete also made a quick start in the fencing salle, picking up 5 victories from her first 6 bouts. However, against some vastly more experienced athletes, she found the remainder of the fencing more difficult, eventually finishing 19th with 10 victories.

This left Muir in 10th ahead of the combined event, in the middle of a tightly packed group. A battling performance and time of 12:41.00 was the 9th quickest in the group, but saw her drop to 14th place at the finish. This meant she finished the day in 40th position, just 4 shy of making Friday’s final.

Pentathlon GB Performance Director Jan Bartu was pleased with both Murray and French’s performances, explaining that both had “Put on a good show today. They made a clear passage through the semi-finals and really competed well. They can still improve for the Final but it was a good day”.

Muir was making her Senior World Championships debut and Bartu explained that she had found it “A very testing competition. She did well from the outset, swam a PB and put in a solid fencing performance to pick up 11 victories which is good for her. Unfortunately she found herself in the middle of a very competitive combined event and just missed out on a place in the final.”

After finishing on the podium in 6th at the World Cup Final two weeks ago in Sarasota, Florida, missing out on a place in Friday’s final means Prentice is now relying on her performance in the Sunshine State to maintain her Olympic Qualification hopes. Other athletes will now have the opportunity to pass her on the qualification list should they perform to high enough standard on Friday.

Bartu explained “This competition was very difficult for Freyja.  She needed a solid performance to cement her place on the Olympic Qualification list but unfortunately couldn’t follow through her form in the fencing. This is what put her on course to not make the final because, despite one of her best swims this year, she was not in an effective place in the combined event to qualify.”

The absence of a third team member in the final means the GB women will not feature in the team competition. Therefore, the only chance of further medal success now rest with Murray and French’s individual performances.

Thursday sees the turn of the men with GB’s Jamie Cooke, Joe Choong, Sam Curry and Tom Toolis looking to secure a place in the men’s final.

There are expected to be more than 100 male athletes in tomorrow’s 3 semi-final groups and Bartu explained “This will make the semi-finals very tough. I think it will be the hardest men’s competition this year.”

Report courtesy of Pentathlon GB