The venue near Cremona was the Spinadesco canal. This near 40m wide concrete canal that was over 3.5m deep and had been subject to some amazing investment by the organisers. A new road, improved access and a significant stocking programme bode well for the event. Thirty seven countries from as far away as South Africa and the USA would meet to battle it out for glory.
Resident carrassio and bream along with stocked carp and carrassio would make up most catches along with the hard fighting asp for those lucky enough to connect with them.
Two weeks of intense practice on the venue saw Will and the team ready to bolt out of the blocks with a positive and well prepared plan that left the rest of the teams in their wake.
On Day One a surprising wind greeted the anglers, putting a significant chop on the canal. This, combined with a distinct tow, was certain to require some adjustment in thinking for some.
Will clearly relished the conditions and crushed the rest of the field with a match and section winning 13kg 270g. Pegged next to an Italian angler Will caught a combination skimmers, carrasio and carp firmly putting one foot on the podium with a blinding display, thrilling hundreds of onlookers that had gathered behind him and the Italian.
The England team also showed their intent with an unbelievable first day score of 22 points with San Marino and the Czech Republic scoring 38 and 51 points respectively. A consistent performance and some favourable draws also saw the Scotland team grab fifth position with a strong 62 points; six ahead of Italy who shocked everyone with a lowly eighth.
Day Two also presented contrasting conditions to the practice week with a cloudy sky, light bursts of rain and breeze off your back. Everyone knew that bad draws riddled the match length and it would be limiting damage from these bad draws that would be key for teams in the running.
Will was handed the bib of C36, one off an end peg about 100m from the main bridge. Reports were that this was a good area but the certain large crowds could have a say in the pegs performance. To add to Wills challenge local Italian ace Stefano Defendi was handed C1 and with a large gap between sections the game was on.
Shortly after the ‘all in’ Will produced his first fish followed by a procession of consistent bites and fish through the first hour. The gallery watching was described as twenty deep and the bridge was lined with onlookers too. The Italian crowd although partisan to their own were wowed and entertained by Wills display. Larger fish started to show and Will took his chance to boost his weight with some large carp.
Team wise Italy were resurgent with awesome performances from Defendi, Ballebeni and Sorti with Falsini and Bosi so far avoiding disasters. But it was the San Marino team that were worrying England the most with a section leader and high scoring weights being reported.
Reports from the C1 were that Defendi was catching well and no one could separate him and Will for the lead. The telling spell came when the canal switched off for most but the ‘Raison and Defedni’ battle continued with both putting their expertise to use producing valuable fish at opposite ends from each other.
When the all out rocket cracked the tension everyone hoped that Will was on the verge of creating his own history but it would be the team result which mattered more to every angler and spectator there.
England men spoke nervously as the weigh in’s begun in each section. A tough draw for Des Shipp had seen him with little to work with carrying a likely 30th place plus Alan Scotthorne was around 20th in the section. With 50pts to start with for the first day leaders no one could even put a guess on the final outcome.
Defendi unsurprisingly put a big weight on the scales with 11kg 590g. Privately it was said that Will had around 10kg so the double section win was clearly in doubt. This would mean that anglers with wins or second places from Day one could be in the reckoning for the individual places. News on the bank was that Steve Gardener was in the hunt for a section win. His day one third would give him strong chance of a medal.
The top three team places now looked likely to include Italy as the scores came home, with San Marino and the Czech Republic also hoping to eat into England’s first day score. Wales recorded excellent results coming second on the day; a performance that would push them well up the table. Scotland’s awesome first day was hurt by some high scores taken them out of the top five to eleventh. Not mentioned but certainly delivering was Irelands Willy Wheeler with a definite high score to add to his first day second.
It was soon known that San Marino also had a mid 20 and 30 score so they were unlikely to catch England. Italy were still pushing all the way with three anglers only having five points between them.
In the final shake up England had 53pts to add to their first day 22pts. Now sitting with 75pts Italy were unable to catch them despite winning day two with 41pts. This allowed the San Marino team to split the big two with a final score of 104pts five ahead of their fellow Italians. England had their gold.
But furious speculation saw hundreds await confirmation that Will Raison had done enough to land the individual crown.
The closest scores were added up and only he had three points on the board. Will had done it. Joy and excitement burst all around as his fans and team got what they wanted a popular and welcomed champion.
Willy Wheeler had scored four with two section seconds along with Steve Gardener who had a third and a win. But it was the Irishman who would take the silver on weight; a fitting result for the memory of our friend Bobby Smithers. Steve was still delighted with bronze.
Will was in disbelief and swarmed by well wishers. He soon got his hands on a well earned bottle of beer, surely the sweetest tasting bottle of his life!
Individual places
1 Will Raison (Eng) 3.0pts 23kg 530g 1pt – 2pt
2 Willy Wheeler (Irl) 4.0pts 15kg 760g 2pt – 2pt
3 Steve Gardener (Eng) 4.0pts 15kg 530g 3pt – 1pt
Team places
1 England 75pts 74kg 500g 22pt – 53pt
2 San Marino 104pts 63kg 810g 38pt – 66pt
3 Italy 109pts 70kg 000g 68pt – 41pt
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6 Wales 130pts 46kg 980g 84pt – 46pt
11 Scotland 155pts 40kg 050g 62pt – 93pt
18 Ireland 189pts 37kg 300g 109pt – 80pt