Andorra's Doria Eyes Podium Redemption at Home Canoe World Cup

Andorra's canoe slalom team—Mònica Doria, Nil Checa, and Ona Perelegre—advanced to Sunday's kayak cross knockout rounds at the World Cup on the Parc Olímpic del Segre canal in La Seu d'Urgell, Spain, after posting competitive times in Thursday's individual time trials.

Doria finished 11th in the women's category with a time of 53.51 seconds, 3.27 seconds behind France's Marjorie Delassus, who set the pace at 50.24 seconds. Delassus took the top spot ahead of Czech Tereza Kneblova (50.76) and France's Angele Hug (51.60), while Spain's Maialen Chourraut placed eighth at 53.22. Delassus leads the women's kayak cross World Cup standings with 265 points.

In the men's race, Britain's Joseph Clarke led with 45.91 seconds, followed by Spain's Manuel Ochoa (46.43) and Czech Matyas Novak (46.86). Clarke tops the overall men's standings on 315 points, with Ochoa in third. Checa recorded 49.37 seconds for 22nd place, 2.94 seconds off Clarke's mark.

Making her World Cup debut at 16, Perelegre clocked 62.11 seconds for 41st in the women's event despite a brief issue at the end. She described her run by saying she approached it with great enthusiasm, managed to recover from getting caught up near the finish, and was already focused on the next sessions.

The competition continues Friday with kayak slalom (K1) qualifying from 09:30, semifinals at 14:00, and finals at 16:30 for the top 12 in each gender. Saturday features canoe (C1) with qualifying at 09:30, semifinals at 13:30, and finals at 16:00. Kayak cross knockouts begin Sunday at 10:00, with finals at 14:40.

Training regularly on this Olympic canal gives the Andorrans familiarity with the course. Doria, who earned world silver in Oklahoma this summer but fell to 13th in Paris last week due to a penalty, aims to capitalise on home advantage. Toni Cadena, technical director of the Andorran Canoe and Kayak Federation, expects solid performances but emphasised a measured approach.

Checa builds on his Paris showing, while debutante Perelegre progresses alongside Doria's leadership. The trio's qualification strengthens Andorra's rising profile in the discipline.