At a pond in Roden, Gerrit Ansing (60) stares intently at the tip of his fishing rod. A little tug, another one, and: “Yep, keep going,” he says happily as he reels in his fifth roach. Ansing looks relaxed. It is difficult to imagine that the same man became world champion with Team Holland at the end of April, after a neck-and-neck race against Germany.
The plasterer from Roden can recently call himself a feeder fishing world champion. As national coach, he led the Dutch team to gold in Italy, after a blood-curdling showdown against Germany. “Well, I’m not the best,” Ansing immediately laughs when he receives compliments. “I’m the coach,” he laughs.
For three days, 29 countries competed for the world title at the Ostellato Canal, near Ferrara in Italy. The Netherlands started slowly and fell behind after two days. But on the final day everything fell into place. “It remained exciting until the last five minutes,” says Ansing. “Due to the poorer result of the Germans and a few good bonus fish from us, we ultimately won by two points. So very close.”
According to him, the win was mainly due to the preparation and experience of the team. Four days of training took place in advance to determine tactics. Where is the fish? What distance works? How do circumstances react? “Training, years of experience of the men and just being very eager to learn,” is how Ansing summarizes the success.
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