World Rowing Championships 2013: Mahe Drysdale Exits, Alan Campbell Advances

No gold medals were handed out on day four of the 2013 World Rowing Championships in Chungju but there was plenty of drama in Korea.

Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand was a big-name casualty as he failed to reach the semi-finals of the men’s single sculls.

Former world champion Marcel Hacker of Germany won the heat with Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Azerbaijan and Georgi Bozhilov of Bulgaria taking the remaining two qualifying places.

Drysdale, who turned 34 in December, has been considering retirement since his triumph at the London Games.

The five-time world champion also suffered a disrupted preparation after he collided with the side of a truck in Korea last week.

However. the two other medallists from the Eton Dorney regatta, Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic and Alan Campbell of Great Britain, progressed to Friday's semi-finals.

Kim Crow, who won bronze at last year's Olympics, qualified fastest for the women's single sculls semi-finals, while Britain's Vicky Thornley also progressed.

It was a second day of repechages, and Great Britain and the Netherlands edged out New Zealand to reach the final of the women’s eight, while France and the Netherlands got themselves into the showpiece of the men's equivalent.

Korea and Russia reached the final of the lightweight women’s quadruple sculls, while Hong Kong and Denmark made it through to the gold medal decider in the men's version.

It is finals day for non-Olympic-class events on Friday, with the marquee events being settled on Saturday and Sunday.