Meng and Yang win in Duisburg

(BEIJING, June 16) -- Formidable Chinese pair Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun won the men's C2 500m on the final day of the ICF Flatwater Racing World Cup 2 Duisburg 2008, finishing in 1:44.459, four seconds faster than the gold-winning time they posted in Szeged, Hungary, several days ago. Their streak of success gives them a boost of confidence heading into the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Belarusian brothers Aliaksandr and Andrei Bahdanovich finished second in the race, 0.806 seconds behind the Chinese pair. Constantin Popa and Nicolae Flocea of Romania came third with a time of 1:45.719.

"We met most of our potential Olympic opponents at these two World Cups," Meng wrote on his blog, "Now we know what we can do best and what we need to improve in the next two months. On Tuesday we will be back in Beijing and I will stuff myself with lots of Chinese food."

In other finals, Great Britain's Tim Brabants failed to win his second gold metal in this event, losing to reigning Olympic champion Adam van Koeverden of Canada in the Men's K1 500m by just 0.096 seconds. Torsten Lubisch also put up a good time, trailing just 0.778 seconds behind van Koeverden.

Three-time Olympic champion Andreas Dittmer of Germany edged out Aliaksandr Zhukouski of Belarus by just 0.094 seconds in the Men's C1 500m. Canada's Mark Oldershaw finished third, 0.308 seconds behind Dittmer.

In the Men's K2 500m, Ronald Rauhe and Tim Wiesk