Ireland's sprint canoeist Andrzej Jezierski said yesterday he was "very happy" with his seventh-place finish in the A Final at the opening World Cup of the year in Milan at the weekend.

In the C1 200 metres – an Olympic event – Jezierski was .892 of a second away from claiming a bronze medal.

The Cork-based Pole, who represented Ireland at the London Olympics, hopes to compete in the third World Cup in Szeged in Hungary in two weeks' time and to peak for the European Championships in Germany in July.

To recover
He was picked for the second World Cup in Racice next weekend but is convinced it is better for him to recover and train rather than compete again so quickly.

"It is hard to race when you have whole-body pain," he told the Irish Times. "I prefer to train hard now and have a little rest before Szeged."

Ireland had two other finalists in Milan. Barry Watkins finished eighth in the K1 (racing kayak) 500 metres and Jenny Egan placed 9th in the K1 5,000 metres. Watkins was 15th overall (6th in the B Final) in his Olympic discipline, the K1 1,000 metres.

Jezierski’s three World Cup points gave Ireland a placing of 27th overall.