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The Junior Men's category delivered some of the most spectacular performances of the championships so far. Athletes thrilled spectators with powerful, high-scoring rides and impressive technical mastery, as all finalists surpassed the 1,000-point mark across their two best runs.

Germany’s 16-year-old sensation Lukas Ramsayer emerged as the standout performer of the day. Scoring more than 2,200 points across his two best runs, Ramsayer posted a total that would have placed him seventh in the senior men's preliminary round – a remarkable achievement that firmly establishes him as the favourite for tomorrow’s gold medal battle.

Great Britain's Matt Cradock and Sam Worgan secured second and third positions respectively, both demonstrating excellent consistency and a wide range of difficult tricks. France’s Artur Genovese advanced in fourth place, while Germany’s Felix Ramsayer, younger brother of Lukas, secured his place in the final during his very first international competition. Felix also became the youngest athlete to reach the Junior Men's final, highlighting the bright future of the sport.

The C1 Women's competition began directly with the semi-finals, featuring eight athletes battling for places in tomorrow's medal round.

Poland’s Zofia Tula, the reigning European silver medallist in both K1 and C1, dominated the session to take first place. Tula finished more than 200 points ahead of Germany’s Lucia Hacker, who secured second position. Another German paddler, Naya Daruwala, advanced in third place, followed by Great Britain's Ottilie Burrill-Smith in fourth and Germany’s Sonja Regina Hacker in fifth.

Several athletes demonstrated impressive versatility by competing across multiple disciplines, with Tula, Hacker, Daruwala, Burrill-Smith and Hacker all set to challenge for honours in both K1 and C1 categories. The competition also welcomed newcomers to C1, as Valerie Bertrand and Taru Terni made promising debuts in the discipline, successfully adapting their freestyle skills to the very different demands of the canoe.

The championships continue tomorrow with the highly anticipated C1 Men's semi-finals, alongside the K1 Junior Women, K1 Women, and K1 Men semi-finals, promising another action-packed day on the powerful waters of Lieksa.