Germany’s Ricarda Funk once again upstaged local hero Jessica Fox and teammate Franz Anton showed off his world championship form at the Australian canoe slalom grand prix in Penrith on Saturday.

Funk made it two K1 wins in a row with a stunning victory over France’s Camille Prigent and Slovenia’s Ursa Kragelj.

Fox finished eighth.

“I’m super happy with my performance this weekend, my run wasn’t perfect but in the end I’m really happy I finished in first position,” Funk said.

“I’m really looking forward to the season ahead and continuing to duel with Jess.

“I’ve had a really good time here in Australia, I’ve stayed for four weeks but I actually don’t want to leave because I love it here.”

Anton was a revelation in 2018, and finished with his first C1 world title in Rio.

On Saturday he finished ahead of Rio Olympic silver medalist Matej Benus, of Slovakia, with another Slovakian, Marko Mirgorodsky, taking third.

“It was a good run, but I did have some problems at the last upstream gate,” Anton said.

 “My target time was 106 and I missed it by two seconds, but for the end of the training camp here it’s a good finish. It’s only the second race of the year and it’s still early in the season but it’s the first step and it’s good to see how the others came through the winter. It gives you a good feeling if you win or if you have a successful run here and it’s been good. 

“The goal for the season is to qualify for the Olympic Games and we’ll have the Olympic selection this year at the World Cups and the World Championships, so this is my target for the year.”

The men’s K1 and the women’s C1 finals will be contested on Sunday.

See Canoe Slalom Oceania Championships results here: http://bit.ly/19oceaniachampsresults