In-form teenager Joe Evans will be Great Britain’s sole representative in the men’s final of the Chengdu Modern Pentathlon World Cup in China.
Evans finished sixth in his semi-final to qualify comfortably for Saturday’s final, finishing in a top-11 group separated by just eight seconds. A top-12 finish was needed to secure an automatic berth in the final.
While Nick Woodbridge and 19-year-olds Sam Curry and Tom Less miss out on the showpiece, Evans will appear in his third straight World Cup final, a record that started with a bronze medal in California in February.
“It’s been an encouraging season for Joe. He’s made three finals from three World Cups and that’s a very good standard,” said Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB performance director.
“He did really well and deserved his place in the final. Let’s see what he can do there.
“Chengdu was an opportunity for Tom to learn about the sport and it has fulfilled its purpose.”
Woodbridge and Evans made strong starts to their campaign in the pool as they clocked the best two times of the day for the 200m freestyle.
Woodbridge was the only pentathlete to dip under two minutes with a time of 1:59.99, while Evans clocked 2:00.53.
Evans, a University of Bath sports performance student, maintained his place in the top ten by winning half of his 32 fencing bouts. He went into the run/shoot in seventh place overall. Woodbridge dropped down to 15th, winning 13 of his fencing contests.
Evans comfortably progressed to the final with a run/shoot time of 12:45.86, but Woodbridge struggled with the heat and humidity with a time of 13:35.12, which left him 25th overall.
In semi-final A, Curry and World Cup debutant Lees finished 20th and 23rd respectively.
Curry, competing at only his third World Cup, won 14 of his 31 fencing contests to start the day in joint 21st, while Lees won nine bouts for 30th.
Lees’ 2:06.81 was ninth fastest and he went into the run/shoot 30th overall. Curry’s 2:09.33 in the pool was 16th fastest in the semi, which meant he went into the combined run/shoot in 19th.
Curry rounded off his campaign with 12:43.06 for the run/shoot. It was the 18th fastest time and meant he finished 20th overall. Lees’ 12:32.32 was the 12th fastest time of the semi, pushing him up to 23rd overall.
Before Evans stars in China it is the turn of Katy Burke and Rebecca Wain in the Friday’s women’s final, the pair having qualified from Wednesday’s semi-final.
© Sportsbeat 2013