Bath Olympian Samantha Murray is safely through to the Women’s Individual Final of the Modern Pentathlon World Championships after a tough qualifying competition yesterday.
Twenty-five-year-old Murray got her qualification campaign off to a flying start, with a second place finish in the swim and a time of 2.10.26.
She went on to gain valuable points in the fence, winning 18 of her 26 bouts which put her in pole position at the start of the combined event.
A solid run/shoot saw her cross the line in first place and secure her automatic qualification in Saturday’s final.
Performance Director Jan Bartu said: “Samantha went very well today, she had a good swim and good fence as always and her running and shooting was up there with the best.
“If she recovers well over the next 48 hours and is in the right frame of mind on Saturday, she is definitely a contender for the title.
“There is still room for improvement but I have belief she is fully capable to do the job.”
It was heartbreak for Kate French, however, who finished one place outside of qualification.
French put in a good performance throughout the day and went into the combined event in 5th place.
Bartu said that despite being “absolutely perfect” up until the final event, her shooting was not there and she couldn’t recover.
Former Wold Champion Mhairi Spence also lost valuable ground in the combined event, spending 30 seconds at the third shoot after which she could not catch up.
Spence had shown fantastic skill through the day, placing third in the fence and going into the final event once place behind team mate Murray.
World Championships debutante Francesca Summers put in good performances in the swim and shoot, but went into the final event with a difficult handicap of 1.06 minutes, finishing qualification Group B in 18th.
Tomorrow Nick Woodbridge, Joe Choong and Jamie Cooke compete in the Men’s Individual Final before Murray returns on Saturday.
