MATT Beechey started the British medal run at the World Cup Regatta in Amsterdam with gold in the men's lightweight pairs.

The Worcester RC man's triumph with partner Daniel Harte was a fantastic result after bronze three weeks ago in Austria, despite the River Severn oarsman labelling their row "a bit ragged".

"It wasn't the greatest race, but it can't be bad if you're winning gold when you're a bit below-par," said the 30-year-old sports studies graduate.

"We didn't win it quite the way we wanted, but it means there's plenty of room for improvement still, so we can push onto the World Championships in Germany in August with confidence. We've worked on our starts in training, but we got dropped off the blocks which was disappointing and then came through on brute force really.

"We got back on terms in the second 250 metres and when I shouted it up at 500m it felt like we could just take water out of them."

A lead of six feet at the first quarter mark over Danes Kasper Winther and Asbjoern Joensen was a length at halfway and, with Belgium pushing through to second hitting the 1,500m mark, GB were two lengths to the good.

The Danes found another gear in the run-in to grab the silver, closing the gap to 2.85 seconds with Belgium another length back in third.

Despite pairs gold in Holland, 2006 World Championship fours finalist Beechey is targeting a place back in the bigger boat and a seat on the plane to the Beijing Olympics.

"The pairs isn't raced at the Olympics, so that's my long-term aim," he said.

"There's a very competitive squad of six of us with very little between us and hopefully I can be back in the four for next year.

"But if I can do it as a world champion in the pair, then so much the better."

Wormington's Alex Gregory suffered semi-final heartache in the GB men's quad scull.

Strokeman Ian Lawson shipwrecked his blades just 10 strokes from the line as they were poised to overhaul Australia to take the third qualifying slot.

But they were second in the B' final for the second World Cup Regatta in succession, landing a highly creditable eighth place overall three-quarters of a length behind America.

Malvern's Colin Scott went close to qualifying, just failing to catch Croatia with a grandstand finish as his GB four finished fourth in their repechage.

The Cambridge student, who helped the Light Blues' second eight beat Oxford's reserves in the Boat Race in April, is targeting the World Under 23 Championships in Glasgow in August.