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Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret is in the lead. This is probably one of the most commonly used sentences in sport climbing, and he will use this sentence again at the IFSC Lead World Cup Wujiang competition.
Garnbret was the only woman to come out on top through the semi-final route and reached the final after making a fingertip save on her final move. Or, perhaps in Garnbret’s case, it was exactly as she intended.
Second place goes to Italy’s Laura Rogola, who is showing a strong lead in Kure. Rogora made it through the preliminaries with two top spots, and advanced to the semifinals with a hold of 42+.
The local crowd remains interested in the women’s competition as Luo Zhilu moves into third place with a hold of 40+. Joining Luo in the final in the 40+ route will be U16 Lead Youth World Champion Natsumi Oda of Japan. He is another young Japanese climber who doesn’t seem to be having trouble making the step up to the senior ranks.
Teammate Natsuki Tanii took 5th place with a hold of 39+, and Oda will also advance to the finals with a hold of 38+, one place ahead of South Korea’s Seo Chae-hyun.
Britain’s Erin McNeice must love China. At the Boulder World Cup in Keqiao earlier this week, McNeese reached her first final in the event. At this event, she advanced to her first semi-final in the lead. Tomorrow, she could move up to 37th place and pass in 7th place to book her first lead World Cup final.
The final woman with a shot at a medal is Slovenia’s Mia Krumple. Her 34+ was enough for Crumple to take the top eight spot, but then France’s Manon Hilly missed out on the top eight with a hold of 32+.
Mr Crumple said: “I am very happy because after yesterday’s qualifying I did not expect to make it to the final. I knew that I made some mistakes and was not in the best starting position. I know I’m not in the best shape, but I’ll be stronger in the next match. Even though I wasn’t in my best shape, I’m glad I was able to make it to the finals.”
If “Garnbret is on top” is a common phrase for women, isn’t “Japan has the most participants in the finals” a common phrase for men?
This was certainly the case at the Kure Games, where the competition was so close that five Japanese climbers made it through a nine-person final rather than the usual eight-person final.
Friends and rivals Toby Roberts of Great Britain and Sorato Anraku of Japan are aiming for another podium. At the moment, Roberts has the advantage in first place with 45+ and Anraku is in second place with 44+, but since he was the previous winner of the Kure lead, he won’t give up his position easily.
Roberts said: “I have been training hard in Boulder with Reed over the winter, but since this is the first comp of the season, no one really knows each other’s situation. Keqiao’s fourth performance in Boulder I’m pretty happy with my lead form here and I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the games go.”
Shuta Tanaka was one of his Japanese team-mates to join in comfortably, coming in third with a 32+, while Roberts also shot a 32+ to take fourth and claim the final spot, along with teammate Max Milne. .
Taisei Homma won the bronze medal at last year’s Kure Games and has the 31+ route, so he has a chance to equal or upgrade in 2024.
Switzerland’s Sacha Lehmann and Belgium’s Hannes van Duysen, also over 31, will join the British pair as they aim to beat Japan’s final majority and win more World Cup silver medals.
Van Duysen said: “This is my first time reaching a Reed World Cup final, but like many of us at Reed, I’m very happy that all the training we’ve put in over the winter has finally paid off.”
The eighth and ninth players in the final will be Japan’s Shion Omata, who won the silver medal last year, and Yoshito Murashita, who both reached a hold of 31.
To hear more stories from Wuji climbers, click here
Click here for complete results
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