Liam Jegou qualifies for semi-finals in London

Irish canoeist shakes off back injury to make it through in Lee Valley

Liam Jegou qualified for the semi-finals at the canoe slalom World Cup in Lee Valley, London on Friday.

The Ireland C1 paddler placed 29th in his first run and got through by placing ninth of the 10 qualifiers from the second run. He had no time penalties in either run at the 2012 Olympic venue.

Jegou suffered a back injury in his warm-up and there was a doubt over whether he could compete. He will go off second of the 30 competitors in the semi-final on Saturday at 9am. Ten will make it through to the final.

The C1 is an Olympic event and Jegou hopes to qualify the boat for Tokyo at the canoe slalom World Championships in La Seu D’Urgell, Spain in September.

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Ireland had a relatively big team at Lee Valley, but the other team members competing did not make it to the semi-finals.

Liam Gorman

Liam Gorman

Liam Gorman is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in rowing