History of the World Carp Fishing Competitions
Until 1999, all Carp fishing competitons were conducted exclusively in the individual competition. Then in Portugal
four teams gathered (the hosts of the tournament, Belgium, Italy and France), which consisted of three deuces, and for
the first time the tournament was held between the teams, becoming the most important event in the life of any fishermen over the years and provoked the concept of carp sport in general. 72 hours, three deuces, the sum of the results of which determines the final place with the table.
The winners were the Belgians, who also won gold and silver in the individual competition. Second place for Italy, the
third took the team from France. A year later, the Romanians and the future triumphers of all mundials, Croatians,
joined the four teams. In this format, the tournament was held the next two years in Italy and Portugal, respectively.
In 2000, the hosts celebrated the victory – the Italians, ahead of the Portuguese only a couple of kilograms, and the third became the Croats. Croatia, who for six consecutive years will invariably take a place in the top three, became the world champions three times.
The pedestal was truly painted in a white in 2001 in Portugal, when Croatia for the first time becomes the World Champion in the team event and takes gold, silver and bronze in individual competition. At the head of the team is Zeljko Tsapan, the future legend of carpfishing, which will win the tournament more than once and as an athlete and as a coach.
2002: Croats defend the title, but for us this season will be remembered by the fact that for the first time the Russian national team takes part in it. In addition, the tournament includes Luxembourg and Poland. Competitions are held in France and Luxembourgers immediately take gold in individual competition and pull their team to third place! The French are second, losing very few champions. By the way, this was the only tournament where two sets of bronze
medals were in the individual competition, because of the identical weight that the teams of Belgium and Poland
caught.
2003: Again Italy. Again, the hosts tear out the victory! On their native expanses, they managed to push back the
formidable Croats, whose second place was already perceived as a failure and a small sensation. Too good and stable
were these guys from the west of the Balkan Peninsula, laying baits at any distance with the accuracy of the sniper. The victory of the Croatian deuce in the individual competition a little has brightened up the result ahead of Italy and did not allow it to become absolute champions. But still the main result is the team one. The composition of the participants is also expanding. South Africa, Slovenia, Austria and Macedonia are added. The latter miraculously take bronze in the individual competition! And the third place of the team tournament from the first attempt is taken by the team of South Africa, which after several years will establish such a record series of tournaments that it will not be able to beat it for a very long time.
In 2004, the Carp fishing competition was marked by the absolute triumph of the Balkans in the company with Romania. The first
tournament of Serbia and immediately gold medal. Brothers-Croats got second, Romanians- third. For us, this
tournament is also memorable, because for the first time our deuce climbs on a pedestal in the individual competition!
The Tolarik-Mikhailov pair win the silver of the Portuguese tournament! By the way, this tournament was held without
the Luxembourg national team, which will return next year.
Six years after the start of the annual World Carpfishing Championship, the most conservative, traditional and the
founders of the classic carpfishing – the English, recognize it. The tournament starts to become more popular. In
addition to England, for the first time teams from Hungary, Austria and Slovenia come to Belgium. Luxembourg returns.
The British are showing good results, but that’s not enough to get ahead of the Croatian team. The third place is for the Romanian national team. But the British show the master class in the individual competition, having had twice as good result as the second place. By the way, for the first time in the history of tournaments, among the prize-winners in the personal classification there were not deuces of the champion team.
A year later, in 2006, Portuguese, who were from the very beginning in the cohort of participants, are taking gold! It
happened on a home pond in Portugal. The second for Serbia, in the third place are Italians. For the first time since
2000, from the moment of participation in the tournament, there were no Croats on the podium. And again, a curious
story in the personal standings, where the deuce of silver medalists in the team competition outflanked the deuce from
the camp of champions. By the way, this tournament in Portugal was the first tournament in which there were serious fish caught. Prior to that, all competitions were held in the most severe stress, when the champions caught only a few fish and became the first with a total weight of 20-40kg. At the tournament in Portugal, the champion caught 153kg, the second place – Serbia 146kg and the bronze medalists Italians – 112kg.
2007: The Croatian era is coming to an end. Becoming champions in the vastness of almost native Serbia, the Croats for a long five years will fall out of the cage, content with places in the top ten. At last they loudly slammed the door, taking gold also in an individual competition. The second is the Romanians, achieving the same result in the individual competition, and the third team of England, which during all World Cups in the carpfishing so much will resemble its football team, which could only once achieve a serious result in the history, while being famous, commercially successful league. It would be interesting if the British took silver also in the individual classification, but the Bulgarians
got it. And so it would be a mirror image in both sets of competition.
The first nine years of the existence of the World Championship on carpfishing were essentially the same as world football tournaments. At first everything starts with a few countries that take a bold title. Then, other countries start to join them in turn, and this business is gaining popularity. Quite unexpectedly it turned out that the main stars of the tournaments were not English, but Croats! Croats, who do not produce films, do not produce in crazy quantities products for carpfishing. They buy everything from abroad, like all the other teams, but these phenomenal results can only be achieved by them! Agree, to win in the first seven years of participation four gold, one silver and two bronze it is worth a lot.
For the first time the tournament leaves Europe. South Africa, 2008. Sensational victory of the hosts, the British got second place. Then the team of Namibia. By the way, South Africans occupy the whole pedestal of honor in their
individual competition, repeating the record that the Croats established seven years ago. But that was only the
beginning. Incredibly, but the national team of South Africa will win other four world championships! And not just
anywhere, but after the home mundialem, these guys will ride a rink for all competitors in France, Italy and England
itself! Again, squeezing the poor English in second place, but we ran a little ahead. It is with their victories that the GOO gels will flourish.
The next year Carp FishingCompetition is held once again in France. The team of South Africa is going there as a completely unexpected champion to defend the title (familiar to us from recent times the situation, is not it?). And he does the impossible! Not only defending the title, but also having won gold and bronze medals in the individual competition! In
second place there is the national team of Serbia, and the bronze medals are given to the host team of the tournament.
Croats are somewhere in the middle of the table, the British were able to get silver in the individual competition,
Africans are repeating another record of the legendary Croatian team – achieving two consecutive victories.
2010: The carp fishing competition is not anywhere, but in the heart of carpfishing – England itself! The utter failure of the hosts. They failed to be even in the top 3, taking fourth place in their native spaces. Bronze for the Spaniards, silver for the Greeks! Well, gold, as you guessed it, again for South Africa! Both in team and individual competitions. They interrupt the record of the Croats and become three times in a row champions of the World! An unprecedented success, but ahead of the tournament in Italy, which twice already hosted the tournament, and all two times the victory was celebrated by the Italians.
The third time did not work. Gold – South Africa, silver – England, bronze for Latvia. But here the bell rang from the once formidable Croats – their deuce managed to take the second place in the individual competition. In fact, soon this team will return to the upper legion and still make hustle and bustle, but so far the kings of carpfishing live in South Africa.
The record is striking. Just think, for four consecutive years, in a dispute with the world’s most powerful carpets, in different reservoirs, in different countries, three times on another continent for themselves, they win four tournaments in a row!
2012 was the last year of a worthy performance of this gold team. They occupy the fifth place, but even no one dares to
put it to them in reproach. These guys deserve a place for themselves in the Hall of Fame of the world’s carpfishing. And the tournament was held in Romania, where again the hosts won and only the Portuguese deuce, which took the third place in the individual competition, stopped the Romanians from absolute domination on the pedestal. So they would have all possible rewards – gold for the team and a full set of medals in the individual competition. Second place for Bulgaria, the third – the Serbs.
By the way, this tournament provoked a scandal. The team of England accused the Romanians of having trained local
fish to their secret food composition. According to the information of the English team, or rather its coach Jan
Huntington, the Romanians feed fish with a certain composition of the bait for five months and they used it later in the tournament. By the way, the British did not absolve themselves of the responsibility for the depressing result, they occupied a terrible low, 18th, place but still it is necessary to recognize that such a low place was too heavy for them.
2013 was a year of Portuguese revenge for the World Cup-2001. Then the Croats obtained the first gold, and also took
the whole pedestal of honor. The Portuguese team was the second. This time, the Portuguese beat the Croats, and also
managed to get ahead of them in the individual competition. But, the Croats began to return slowly. This is their first
team award after the “African invasion”. But we were sincerely happy that year for the team of Kazakhstan. For the first time the team from CIS countries receives the award at the world championship in carpfishing. Only three years remain
to the main event.
2014: The king returns. The Croats are champions! They also have the first place in the individual
competition. The Italians are again out of work in home tournament, and behind the Croats on the podium are the
French and the Belgians. By the way, the French deuce took silver in the individual competition, settling down between
two Croatian duets. Records of South Africa are quietly forgotten, especially since the team’s business is simply
catastrophically bad. They even stop being in the top ten.
2015: An event that everyone was looking for. Jan Huntington, a member of the Korda team, gave his place to Rob Hughes who joined the team management. The heaviest pond in Spain, the river, which has all the ensuing complexities.
Until very late seconds, the British and Croats were at the same place, and yet the ancestors of carpfishing snatched so
long-awaited gold! It is worth noting that it was just a team struggle, because none of the two teams of these teams fell into the top 3 of the personal standings. It should be noted that this was the first tournament in the history of the carpfishing tournament, when the champion caught less fish than the silver medalist. The third place is occupied by Serbs.
From an interview with Bill Floyers, member of the England team: “A few days after the appointment, Rob called me
and said he wants to see me as part of the national team at the tournament in Spain”. I was very encouraged by the fact
that our deuce was called even after the coach was changed. The first meeting of the team went so good that on the
way back, I was amazed. Rob told how he sees the training process, preparation and I realized that we finally had a
team, finally we became a single whole, there was an enjoyable atmosphere at that meeting. After several trainings on the river Ebro, where we fished in different parts of the reservoir and caught a lot of fish, it was decided to use PVA bags with a pellet in the form of a nozzle, and to feed with a loose bait. When we won, we were incredibly happy , because all our plans, all our ideas have justified themselves!”
Well, in 2016 something happened that everyone knows very well. The Russian national team became the world champion in carpfishing for the first time! Everyone perfectly remembers this tournament in the smallest detail, everyone was sick, worried and happy because the incredible success of our team! There are only five months left and we will see our squad in the tournament in Hungary, where they have even more difficult task – to defend the title. So far, only two teams have been able to do this – Croatia and South Africa. But why not?