Japanese men excel in the last Lead World Cup qualification of the year
With Boulder and Speed settled in Seoul, South Korea, attention turned to Lead as the men and women began, and finished, qualification on the fourth day of competition.
Of the 50 women that started, none were more excited than Seo Chaehyun. The South Korean climber made her first appearance in a Seoul Boulder semi-final after a few attempts in recent years, and after talked about the home crowd pushing her on saying: “I think in the Lead now I will get even more energy, and I will show them a good performance.
Seo was true to her word in Lead qualification finishing in first position alongside four others who all topped both routes. Seo will climb last in the semi-final, and you have to think will receive the most energy she would have got from a crowd all year.
The legendary Kim Jain will climb again after finishing in 12th and so will teammate Cho Gayeon who moves through in 22nd spot to give the home crowd even more to cheer for in the semi-finals.
In joint first with Seo is China’s Zhang Yuetong, Japan’s Mori Ai, Austria’s Jessica Pilz and Great Britain’s Erin Mcneice who is fresh from a first World Cup podium after she took bronze in Boulder just a few days ago.
The other medallists from that night are also safely through with first time World Cup winner, USA’s Annie Sanders, progressing in sixth and the other first-time medallist, France’s Zélia Avezou, progressing in eighth.
One of the first out in the round was Netherlands’ Lynn Van Der Meer who had a tale of two climbs: “I started second in the first qualification route. I felt pretty nervous throughout my climb and couldn’t really find my flow as I messed up my foot positions higher up the wall. I got myself into some trouble, and it took a lot of energy. So, I wasn’t feeling great about my performance in the first route.
“Then I kept myself together for the second route and made a plan for the climb, as well as for dealing with my distracting thoughts. I was able to start the second route a bit more relaxed. This helped me get into my flow and fighting mode. Unfortunately, my top wasn’t in time, and I was scored on the second-to-last hold, but I’m really satisfied that I showed myself what I’m capable of and I’m looking forward to another round.”
Van Der Meer scored a 42+ on Route 1 and 40 on Route 2 to put her in 18th overall.
Looking back on her season as a whole Van Der Meer said: “This qualification round reflects my season a bit. I’ve had some ups and downs, with some of my best results but also missing a semi-final after being really consistent last year. I have set myself high goals, and that adds a lot of pressure. This season has taught me that your mind is really strong, and that belief and confidence make you climb better.”
The climber in the final semi-final spot was Oceania Mackenzie. The Aussie climber will be hoping for a bit more of the recent form she has been showing to move her up from 26th to a top eight position and a place in the final.
Full women’s results can be found here
Looking at the men’s qualification result you see Japanese climber Omata Shion in first out on his own as the only climber to make a top.
Move a little further down the results and teammate Anraku Sorato is third, Homma Taisei is fifth, Yurikusa Ao is sixth. But you can continue throughout the 26 semi-final places and see that all eleven of the Japanese entries that started the day are still there. An impressive performance from the team.
In the second spot is a climber who has had an impressive end to the year himself. France’s Sam Avezou has seemed to be gaining in confidence every time he climbs and with an Olympic appearance at Paris 2024 and podium finishes in World Cups and the European Championships, he is backing up that confidence with performances and results. You wouldn’t bet against a final podium for the French climber to end the season.
Sitting just behind and level with Anraku in third is Italy’s Giovanni Placci. The 23-year-old will be hoping his form holds to finish off his season with a first final appearance.
Someone who did make his first final in 2024 was Switzerland’s Jonas Utelli, although the Swiss climber is feeling the effects in Seoul of a hard competition year: “It was probably the worst qualification of the whole season. I just feel really, really tired. I think I can speak for a lot of the athletes now, it’s been a long season, especially if you have done the two OQS events and the whole circuit. Hopefully I can give it one more push, or two, and finish the season on a high.”
Stage one is complete as Utelli made it through to the semi-final in 24th place.
Looking ahead to finishing the ‘long season’ Utelli said: “I’m going to do the after party and then take some weeks off and some weeks outdoors. Then training for next season starts early, would have wished a little bit later, but it is what it is, but we make the plans for next season and keep pushing.”
Utelli will be joined in the next round by teammate Sascha Lehmann who progressed in ninth spot.
The home interest for the semi-final will come from Boulder winner Lee Dohyun, Kwon Kibeom, Min Hyunbin and Yun Shinyeong who all finished inside the top 26, with the 26th and final spot held by Canada’s Oscar Baudrand.
Full men’s results can be found here
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