The 2007 Canoe/Kayak Flatwater Open will enter its last-day competition on August 26, with final races to be contested in the men's K-1 500m, men's C-1 500m, women's K-1 500m, men's K-2 500m, men's C-2 500 and women's K-2 500m.

Judging by the overall situation, European paddlers will continue to dominate the races. However, with the participation of China's Olympic champions Yang Wenjun and Meng Guanliang, though not paired with each other any more, on the final day, the Europeans will not be the only focus of attention on the scene.

Men's K-1 500m

In the group heats on the opening day, Tim Brabants of Great Britain and Kenneth Wallace finished first in 1:48.203 and 1:45.476 respectively in their respective group. However, considering three semifinalists clocked around 1:43.00 and some of the six paddlers qualifying directly from the heats might have concealed their strength, the final competition is expected to be hard fought among the nine boats.

Men's C-1 500m

There will also be nine boats in the finals of the men's C-1 500m. China's Yang Wenjun, who placed second in the first-day group heats, qualified directly to the finals. He will meet Andreas Dittmer from Germany and Aliaksandr Zhukouski of Belarus, who topped the list in their groups, and other rivals who have not showed their real strength in the previous days.

Women's K-1 500m

Zhong Hongyan will represent China in this star-studded event. Prior to the final races, Katalin Kovacs of Hungary and Carrie Johnson of the United States qualified directly as group leaders. Beata Mikolajczyk of Poland, who also made the finals directly by finishing second in the heats in 2:02.298, will be another paddler to beat.

Men's K-2 500m

Of all the nine boats in the men's K-2 500m finals, Ronald Rauhe/Tim Wieskotter of Germany and Raman Platiushenka/Vadzim Makhneu of Belarus will be strong contenders for the title. Moreover, Ben Fouhy/Steven Ferguson scored 1:34.176, which turned out to be the fastest in both the heats and semifinals. No Chinese made
the men's K-2 500m finals.

Men's C-2 500m

As only nine pairs of paddlers entered their names for this event, all the nine boats will compete directly in the finals on August 26 according to the rules. To people in the know, China won this event at Athens 2004 through Yang Wenjun and Meng Guanliang, and this time the only pair from China is Meng Guangliang/Gong Yongjun. Without group heats and semifinals, many things may remain uncertain until the last minute. However, among other things, the presence of Olympic champion Meng Guanliang should be something well worth watching.

Women's K-2 500m

The women's K-2 500m might probably be won by either Fanny Fischer/Nicole Reinhardt of Germany or Timea Paksy/Dalma Benedek of Hungary, who placed first in their respective group. China's Xu Linbei/Zhu Minyuan, finishing first in the semifinals with 1:49.978, the best result of all so far, might be forced to rise to the challenge from those who reserved their strength in the previous rounds.