Olympic silver medallist Saul Craviotto Rivero has blamed his paddles after being eliminated at the semi-final stage of the men's kayak single (K1) 200m.

The Spaniard missed out on the final after finishing fourth at the Kur Sport and Rowing Centre in Mingachevir this afternoon.

"At this point of the season I'm never in top form. And we've been training hard, so I'm a bit tired. I'm trying to get stronger in the coming weeks," said Craviotto Rivero, as quoted on the official Baku 2015 website.

"I've been trying to compete here with new blades. They are a little bit bigger than the old blades. In hindsight maybe it was better to use the old ones because here in cold water they felt very heavy."

His early departure means he will not renew his rivalry with Team GB's Ed Mckeever, who comfortably reached tomorrow's final.