The modern pentathlon World Cup Two came to an end with a German and Russian winning the men's and women's finals. Ghada Abd El-Kader reports German champion Eric Walther finished first in the second World Cup to be staged by Egypt in the modern pentathlon. Walther finished with a score of 5,592 points -- 1,084 in shooting, 904 in fencing, 1,324 in swimming, 1,200 in riding and 1,080 in running. "The competition is very well organised," Walther told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and running were very good. The horses and judges were also good. "It is the second time I compete here in Egypt and second time I won the championship. It seems to be a good place for me. "I dedicate the win to a friend of mine from Mexico. He was shot last year. When I a crossed the finishing line I was thinking of him," Walther said. "It is hard to say the skills needed to be a good pentathlete because every player has his strong and weak events. It is important to be more or less good in all events." From the Czech Republic Michal Michalik won second place with 5,548 points. Michalik scored 1,108 points in shooting, 1,000 in fencing, 1,288 in swimming, 1,172 in riding and 980 in running. From Lithuania, Edvinas Krungolcas won third place with 5,512 points. Krungolcas scored 1,096 in shooting, 856 in fencing, 1,260 in swimming, 1,200 in riding and 1,100 in running. "The weather is almost perfect, not so cold and not so warm," Krungolcas said. "It is good for pentathletes. "I didn't expect to win. I was so scared because there were so many strong competitors. It was a dream that came true." Hungarian Peter Tibolya won fourth place with 5,496 and Czech Michal Sedlecky took fifth with 5,488 points. In the final men's teams, Michalik, Sedlecky and Martin Dvorak from the Czech Republic won the gold with a score of 16,372 points. The Hungarian team of Peter Tibolya, Robert Nemeth and Robert Kasza won the silver with 16,292 points and Russians Andrei Moiseev, Igor Bondarev and Dmitriy Telegin won the bronze with 16,240 points. For Michalik it was his second time to participate in the championship, having won the World Cup in 2001. This was his third trip to Egypt. "It's a nice place here." In the women's final, Russian Tatiana Mouratova took first with 5,536 points. Her scores: 1,156 in shooting, 928 in fencing, 1,224 in swimming, 1,172 in riding and 1,056 in running. The veteran said she was afraid of riding "because last year, every time I had a problem with riding." American Sheila took second with a total 5,512 points, 964 in shooting, 736 in fencing, 1,380 in swimming, 1,200 in riding and 1,232 in running. "I think the Egyptian federation did a wonderful job," said. "It was beautiful. The facilities were great. I am so happy to have done well." won the gold medal in the 4x200 free style in the Atlanta Olympics and came sixth in the Triathlon in Sydney. Egypt's Aya Medani came third with 5,504 points. Her scores were 1,096 in shooting, 832 in fencing, 1,1276 in swimming, 1,200 in riding and 1,100 in running. "I am so happy to achieve third place. I did well today," Medani said. From Belarus Hanna Arkhipenka claimed fourth with 5,492 points and in fifth place Anastasia Samusevich collected 5,480. The German player Lena Schoneborn won sixth place and 5,452 points. The Modern Pentathlon World Cup TWO was held in Egypt from 21-25 March. Ahmed Nasser, the president of the Egyptian federation and the Arab Modern Pentathlon Federation, said, "I'd like to thank all the Egyptian pentathletes who qualified and who didn't. Our aim as the Egyptian federation is not to win medals in every championship but to be able to compete in the biggest world championships and in the Olympics. We are preparing for the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 and London 2012. "In this championship the competition was very strong. Because the year 2007 is a year full of opportunities for each country to have a quota in the Beijing Olympics." Only 36 athletes will qualify for Beijing. Egyptians Medani and Amr El-Geziri have booked their ticket. The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) chose Egypt as the site of the Academy of Modern Pentathlon. "It is an academy for athletes, coaches and referees," Nasser said. "It will serve the game. They chose Egypt in particular because Egypt invented this game. We have great champions from different ages." "This final is one of the strongest competitions we have had these last few years," Klaus Schormann, UIPM president said. "The competition was very exciting," said Schormann, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee-Commission for Culture and Olympic Education. "We also had very strong horses. This is the key of a good result. We have equal horses so no one can complain that they missed points because of the horses. This is absolutely perfect as well the whole organisation. There is no complaining or any protest. That's what we like, too. "I wish for all the winners success for the other big competitions and to find a way to qualify for Beijing 2008," Schormann added.
