In the championship, 105 participants from 25 countries of the world competed in five disciplines – tree felling, chain change, combined pruning, precision pruning and pruning.
Gatis Brencis won the gold medal in the discipline of combined sawing, in which the competitor’s task is to cut 3-8 cm thick discs. The challenge is that you have to cut halfway up the trunk, first from the bottom, then from the top, accurately connecting the two cuts. Points are awarded based on speed, accuracy, puck thickness and work compliance with safety standards. Gatis Brencis completed the task in 24 seconds and got close to the maximum number of points, namely 197 points, one point ahead of Estonian representative Raivo Kivi and leaving Austrian Michael Ramsbacher in third place. It should be noted that Gatis Brencis also showed a great performance in the accurate stretching, finishing in 7th place.
Gatis Brencis also showed an excellent performance in the previous World Woodcutters’ Championships, and so far he has already won several medals, including 3rd place in felling trees and 2nd place in combined pruning and pruning.
This year, the Latvian team was represented in the professional class by woodcutters Gatis Brencis, Anatolijs Seļivanovs and Pēteris Radziņš, while in the U24 class – Rūdolfs Mahts. For the third time in the history of the championship, a separate competition was also held in the ladies’ class, where Rēzija Bankaus competed this year. The coach of the Latvian team has been Armands Lapiņš for almost ten years, and the technical management is provided by the experienced wood cutter Guido Ķepītis.
“We are very grateful to our long-term sponsor Husqvarna, which always provides equipment, as well as the safety equipment and protective clothing necessary for the competition, for our team of Latvian wood-burners,” notes the team coach.
In the overall ranking, the national team took 20th place, and Armands Lapiņš is sure that with the support of the industry, the Latvian team can claim a place in the top ten in the next championship in two years. “I see great potential in our Latvian professionals. Unfortunately, at the moment we have practically no support from the industry, but in order to prepare the team and raise the performance to the next level, we really need both emotional and financial support. I am very satisfied with what has already been achieved, but there are still ample opportunities to grow and develop, so the help of the industry is extremely important – I believe that with support in 4-6 years we could already rank in the top six,” says Armands Lapiņš.
The national team of Latvian wood-burners has been participating in world championships with considerable success for many years. Last time, the representative of the Latvian national team managed to win the gold medal at the 33rd World Wood Gas Championship, which was held in Norway in 2018. At that time, the first place in the combined sculling was won by woodcutter Pēteris Ķepītis, competing in the U24 group.
The World Logging Championship is held every two years and is organized by the International Association Logging Championships (IALC).
The results of the 35th World Wood Gas Championship can be found on the website:
2024-09-27 11:31:21