Canoeing-Flawless Clarke cruises into slalom final

PARIS : Britain's 2016 Olympic champion Joe Clarke led the way in the men's kayak single semi-finals on Thursday, completing a flawless run in a time of 89.51 seconds that will see him go out last in the final later on. 

With the semi-final trimming the field down from 20 to 12 for the final, the racers descended the 23-gate course at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, including six gates that had to be taken upstream, as fast as they could.

There were very few clean runs as many struggled with the tricky configuration.

Tokyo champion Jiri Prskavec of the Czech Republic picked up a two-second penalty for touching a gate as he qualified in sixth place, and teenage sensation Titouan Castryck of France brushed off two such penalties to finish third behind Germany's Noah Hegge. 

The final is due to begin at 1730 local time.