Canoeing: Disappointing end for NZ

Steven Ferguson was ninth and last in the men's K1 500m final this morning (NZ time) to end New Zealand's involvement at the world canoeing championships at Duisburg in Germany.

Ferguson only needed a top-eight finish to meet the selection criteria for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing but he was slow out of the blocks and made little headway on the rest of the field.

New Zealand manager Grant Restall says it was a disappointing finish for Ferguson and it appeared his K2 1000m race yesterday -- where he was seventh with Mike Walker -- took more energy out of him than they had hoped.

It means New Zealand finishes a flat championships with just two confirmed places for next year's Beijing Olympics -- Ben Fouhy in the K1 1000m, after he finished fifth, and Ferguson and Walker in the K2 1000m as they were the top crew from Oceania.

Restall said they were hoping for another couple of crews to qualify yet, including Ferguson and Erin Taylor in K1 boats.

That could happen at an Oceania grading event in Australia in March.

The New Zealand team next head to Asia to train for the Olympic test regatta in a fortnight.

- NZPA