Photo: Courtesy of organizers

The ICF (International Canoe Federation) Canoe Sprint Super Cup splashed off Wednesday in Linyi, East China's Shandong Province, with local favorite Sun Mengya grabbing headlines by finishing a creditable second in the women's Canoe Singles (C1).

Canada's Katie Vincent, a 2018 C1 500 world championship bronze medalist, held off local hope Sun while the US's 2019 C1 200 world champion Nevin Harrison finished third.

Frenchman Maxime Beaumont successfully defended his ICF Kayak Singles (K1) Super Cup sprint title in tough racing conditions on the opening day. Other winners included Swede Linnea Stensils in the women's K1 and Lithuania's Vadim Korobov in the men's C1.

The event offers the Chinese national canoe team, which bagged four gold medals at the world championships earlier this year, to face off at home against international competition.