Their regularity in the French championships and their success in the tests of competences led by the French Federation of the Sporting Fisheries of Seaside commission allowed them to qualify for the world championship:
- The U-16 (13 to 16 years old): Raphaël Bonmort, Tom Perthuy, Bastien Fernandez, Nathan Aubert, Ewenn Sombrun and their captains: Benjamin Morga and Jonathan Vallières.
- The U-21 (17 to 21 years old): Pierre-Louis Ferrandis, Alexandre Kelle, Marceau Pena, Hugo Dachicourt, Jimmy Dudit and their captains: Patrick Lacampagne and Jean-Baptiste Villard.
A fishing that is not simple
They were able to train for two days among themselves, before participating in the official training round and the four rounds constituting the general classification and the podiums. If the conditions were pleasant thanks to a great sun and an oily sea, the fishing was not easy. Indeed, the small liches were numerous, but they weigh little and especially, they are at the limit of the mesh. Thus, if they measure less than 12 centimeters, they count for "one gram". The French therefore understand that the rounds will be won with larger fish such as umbra, marbled, sea bream, horse mackerel.
A golden season for Spain
One thing is certain, the youngsters will have maintained the suspense until the last minute of the last heat and the rankings are tightâeuros¦ except for the world champion titles. With 4 heats out of 4 won by the U16s and 3 out of 4 by the U21s, the Spaniards simply flew over this championship at home! With as a bonus, an individual podium 100% Spanish in U21. A golden harvest for Spain this year since the senior and women teams had achieved the same doublet a few weeks earlier in France.
Bronze and gold for France
After placing twice 2nd, once 4th and once 5th in each heat, the French U16s finished with 13 points and placed 3rd in the world championship. They go home with a nice bronze medal! Thanks to his two 2nd places and an 18th place in the first 3 rounds, Raphaël Bonmort was 7th overall before the last round. What is certain is that he knew how to put all the chances on his side by winning the last round! The only thing left to do was to find out the places of the other young people competing for the podium to know the color of the medal. And finally, the news is out! He is ex aequo in number of points with the young Spanish Lucia Romero Ibanez. In these cases, we look at the best ranking and thanks to his victory in the last round, it is Raphaël who gets the gold medal!
The "place of the idiot" for the U21
Unfortunately, the story is less happy for the U21. The French finished twice 2nd and twice 5th. They were dreading this range of the second and fourth rounds and it gave them back well¦ Alas, they will not be able to find the big catches that allow the other nations to pull their weight. But the tragedy lies in the number of points. Ãeuros two times, they could have won a place to a few grams prèsâeuros¦ And ça pays in the end since they for the bronze medal, three teams are tied in number of points: France, Croatia and Portugal. Again, we look at the best ranking achieved and this time, it is to the advantage of Croatia who won the last round. Our Bleuets slip then to the cruelest place: the 4th position.
If all the young people do not return to France with a medal, they leave rich in memories and know-how and we can only salute their beautiful course. There is no doubt that they will return to the French team even better armed to face the other nations.
