How can one describe the performances of Hungary’s Juniors in the heats of the European Junior Cup in Tiszaujvaros?
Seeing as the home team put on a show and swept all five semi-finals, perhaps this will suffice:
With distances of 500m in the swim, 11.5km on the bike and 3.3km on the run, there was plenty to tempt breakaways and several athletes duly obliged.
Men
Nine was the magic number in the men’s field. Anyone that made it into the top-9 in their heat would automatically qualify for the final on Sunday. The three fastest losers would then also qualify to take the total start list to thirty.
Márton Kropkó took control of semi-final 1 from the start. He led the swim in 5:51, 17 seconds ahead of Raul Petre of Romania. After the early pressure from Kropkó took a toll on the field, a front group of twelve men eventually formed. Among those to make their way to the head of the pack were Christian Hattingh of South Africa and Lawrence Martindale of Britain.
Kolos Trungel-Nagy also pushed a major bike split after losing time in the swim.
After managing his effort on the bike, Kropkó had no trouble sealing the win on the run. He clocked a split of 10:04 to win the first semi-final and send a statement to his rivals. Trungel-Nagy was the next man home in 2nd, 2 seconds ahead of Jakob Suchan of Poland.
The all-important ninth slot was claimed by Benedek Heiszmann in 35:28. Those that finished behind Heiszmann therefore had a nervous wait to see if they would make the final.
Semi final 2 followed the same pattern.
Having led the way in the water at the European Junior Cup in Wels, Zalán Hóbor was at it again. The Hungarian produced a split of 5:59 to emerge 7 seconds ahead of Tin Rebic.
A similar front group formed on the road, this time thirteen-strong. Tommaso Puccini of Australia made his way into the group. Meanwhile, the Israeli duo of Eyal Weinstein and Shavit Haiat rode well after struggling to live with Hóbor’s pace in the swim.
In the end Hóbor practically copied Kropkó’s race to perfection and cruised to a 10:07 run to win the heat. Weinstein was right behind while Haiat crossed next in 3rd place.
Puccini was the 9th man home in a time of 35:10. With two men in semi-final 2 beating the 9th place time from semi-final 1, it seemed there would be no fastest loser in the final from the first heat.
To make it three Hungarian wins from three, Gyula Kovács took 1st place in semi final 3. To be fair, the considerable Hungarian presence in the field made it likely that they would dominate the event. Nevertheless, Kovács was as impressive as Hóbor and Kropkó.
He sat on Gergő Gyula Soós’ feet in the swim, clocking 6:07 to his compatriot’s 6:05. The duo then broke away on the bike and gained almost 40 seconds on the field. Not content to ease off on the run, Kovács ended up finishing in 33:59 to record the fastest overall heat time of the day.
Soós took 2nd place while a third Hungarian, Zalán Trungel-Nagy, was next home.
Lehel Hóbor took 9th place to squeeze into the final in a time of 35:25. Although the times between semi-final 1 and semi-final 3 were finely balanced, there were no lucky losers from the latter.
Instead, Mihály Márton Szabó and Tin Rebic qualified from semi-final 2 and Benedek Áron Szűcs made the final from semi-final 1.
When it comes to tomorrow’s final, it will be hard to look past Kovács, Hóbor and Kropkó. Each looked dominant in their own ways and will be tough to beat.
Women
With only two heats, the vital number for the women was fourteen. The top-14 in both semi-finals would qualify for Sunday’s final with two lucky losers completing the field
In semi-final 1, two women put on an absolute clinic.
Nora Romina Nádas and Isabella Hayes broke away in the swim and then dominated the bike. Kseniya Voronina of Azerbaijan had been able to swim with them but did not finish the bike.
Together, Nádas and Hayes out-split the chasers by the best part of half a minute to build a comprehensive lead on their way to T2. In what seemed a smart tactical move, Hayes coasted the run. Taking a different approach, Nádas powered through the run course to take the win. She still should have something left in the tank for the final and will be a tricky opponent for anyone to overcome.
Shortly after Hayes, Amalia Maria Singuran beat Lili Dobi and Zóra Filep to 3rd place.
When it came to the final automatic qualifier, Hanna Bartók was the last woman to make the final in 14th place. She logged a time of 40:26. As with the men’s field, those that crossed just behind Bartók had to look on with their fate in the hands of the second semi-final.
After the second heat, it will be hard to look beyond one name in particular when it comes to the likely winner of the final.
Fanni Szalai was fantastic across the board as she crushed the second semi-final. She swam 6:43 over the 500m, which was only 1 second off what Nádas managed in the first heat.
Jamie Harker of Canada and Sonja De Koning of the Netherlands were up with her out of the water. Together, that trio pulled away from the field to create a substantial gap on the bike.
Szalai then tore around the run in 10:55, claiming the fastest split of the heats. Juliette Jannedothee was the next fastest runner (also in the second semi-final) and clocked 11:22 to take 4th. For reference, Nádas ran 11:58 to win the first semi-final.
Harker and De Koning appeared to copy Hayes’ strategy and saved their legs for Sunday. As Szalai shot up the road, they let her go and ended up in 2nd and 3rd. On any other weekend, both Harker and De Koning would be good bets for the win. Yet on this occasion it will be hard to look beyond Szalai
She already won the European Junior Cup in Caorle in May. Given how impressive she was today, the talented youngster might be about to claim another gold medal. That being said, Nádas should give her a good battle while it remains to be seen what Hayes, Harker and De Koning still have up their sleeves.
