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Like father.... like daughter!
Female angling
star, Emma Pickering from Doncaster has added to England's medal
collection this summer with a 'golden' display at the World Ladies
Angling Championships in Hungary (16th/ 17th August) when she fished
for Subfish NFA Team England Ladies.
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Following in fathers footsteps... daughter Emma secures her own place in angling's Hall Of Fame.
As England continue to climb the medal tables in Beijing, with one of
our most successful Olympics ever, angling continues to be neglected in
Olympian eyes, yet we remain perhaps one of the world's most successful
countries in the sport... which is more than worthy of Olympic
recognition!
Angling is one of the largest female participation sports in the
country with 66,000 going fishing every year, which is a huge number
compared with most other sports. With such a participation, there is a
huge following of our Subfish England team and immense pressure on them
to bring back medals.
Thankfully for English sport, Emma Pickering, didn’t buckle under the
limelight and she achieved her dream of winning a World Championship,
angling’s equivalent to Olympic gold, just like her father in 1989.
Having already seen success this year, winning the Ladies Fish ‘O’
Mania live on Sky Sports, she can now add the World title to her list
of achievements.
Emma won the championships with 3 points and a total weight over the
two days of 12.650kg. The top four anglers were all level on points,
however it was Emma’s superior weight that landed her gold. Emma fished
a very consistent match, landing 197 fish on day one and 198 fish on
the second day.
Talking to Emma she commented, “I really didn’t expect it, the
match was fished on one of the best venues I have been to, which made
it such a close contest. I was concentrating on just fishing for the
team positions, however as the second day wore on I knew that there was
a chance [individually]. Winning the World Championship was a real
shock, but from a personal achievement perspective this has to be one
of the best experiences I have had.”
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Gold
medallist Emma flanked by French silver medallist Valerie Nadan (left)
and Hungary's bronze medallist, Jozsefne Devecseri (right).
The second placed angler was Valérie Nadan from France who finished
behind Emma with 11.850kg and in the bronze medal position was Jôzsefné
Devecseri from host nation Hungary who ended with 11.370kg, over a kilo
behind Emma Pickering.
In the team classification it was always going to be an uphill battle
to beat Hungary on their home waters, and true to form they took gold
with 25 points and a final weight of 54.240kg. Unfortunately the
Subfish NFA Team England Ladies were unable to emulate Emma’s gold,
finishing fourth for the third year in succession.
“It was always going to be difficult to beat Hungary, however all
the team did exceptionally well with every member finishing in the top
25 positions individually. This competition was just so close, and with
all the competing nations continually improving and building strong
infrastructures we really need to take our fishing to the next level to
continue the success we had in the 90’s”, said Emma's father and manager of Subfish NFA Team England Ladies, Tommy Pickering.
Tommy continued, “I am really proud of Emma winning the gold
medal, but it is hugely disappointing not to win the team gold, that is
what we practice for and why we go to the World Championships.”
However, the fourth place does not tell the full story as Subfish NFA
Team England Ladies were in medal positions throughout the match but
due to a late flurry of catches from the French team in the last five
minutes of action, sadly England once again watched a medal slip from
within their grasp. The team finished on 41 points and 47.360kg, just
one point behind bronze medalists France with 40 points and 47.230kg.
The silver medal went to the Italians who excelled on a strong day one
and put in a solid second day to finish with 39 points and 48.030kg.
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A priceless handful for Emma.
Paul Derbyshire, Managing Director of Subfish the official sponsor of Subfish NFA Team England Ladies added, “The
whole experience of being involved in the World Championships has been
absolutely fantastic. Of course it’s disappointing not to win a medal
for the team, but we have to congratulate Emma Pickering on becoming
individual world champion the ultimate achievement in our sport.”
Full results are available from:
http://www.fips-ed.com/index_eng.php
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