Brabants secures world silver on the comeback trail to 2012

By Sportsbeat staff

OLYMPIC champion Tim Brabants settled for second behind Germany's Max Hoff in the men's K1 1000m at the Canoe Sprint World Championships in Poznan.

PODIUM BOYS: Gold medallist Max Hoff (centre) of Germany, silver medallist Tim Brabants (left) of Britain and bronze medallist Aleh Yurenia of Belarus (Reuters)

Brabants, who took a two-year break from the sport to concentrate on his medical career, following his success in Beijing, was delighted with the performance.

And he believes with a solid winter's training under his belt, he will be back to challenge podium top spot next year as he seeks to defend his Olympic title at London 2012.

"I am really, really pleased with that, and even enjoyed it," said Brabants, who clocked 3.30.040 to finish just under half a second behind Hoff and later finished fifth in the K1 5000m.

"I thought I had the race for a while but Max is always going to be tough to beat as he has been so consistent. But I think next year I will be back up there.

"When I started to get tired in the last 200m I just thought about a really tough session my coach Eric Farrell has had me doing and it got me through."

European champion Rachel Cawthorn was unbeaten in qualifying for the women's final but finished without a medal in fourth as Germany's Franziska Weber took gold.