The Korean Jongwon Chon was one of the strongest. © outThere

The Asians set the tone in Brixen

The first day of competition at the Boulder World Cup in Brixen ended on Friday evening with the men's qualification. There was no happy ending for the South Tyroleans.

June 09, 2023

From: pm/dl

Youngster Sorato Anraku from Japan showed the strongest performance in Group A. The 16-year-old had five tops to his name, for which he needed 7 attempts - that was two fewer than Jongwon Chon from Korea and three fewer than Meichi Narasaki (also from Japan). Last year's third-place finisher Tomoa Narasaki (5th in qualifying), another athlete from the extremely strong Japanese team, and last year's second-place finisher Maximilian Milne (Great Britain/8th) also made it to the next round in this group.

In Group B, eight boulderers managed four tops and five zones. Dohyun Lee (South Korea), who was victorious in Prague last weekend, needed the fewest attempts, six each. Czech climbing legend Adam Ondra was also strong with six or eight attempts. Ondra finished second behind Lee in Prague. The third best qualifying performance in Brixen went to the Austrian Jan-Luca Posch, who had eleven attempts each. Olympic champion Alberto Ginés-López (Spain/8th) and last year's winner Yannick Flohé from Germany also made it to the semi-finals.

No South Tyrolean in the semi-finals

Of the six athletes on the Italian national team in the qualification, none were able to secure a ticket to the semi-finals - not even the two local heroes from Val Gardena, Filip Schenk and Michael Piccolruaz. Schenk managed two tops, including a flash, and four zones, while Piccolruaz reached the end of the route once with a flash and managed three zones. “It was fantastic to climb in front of so many familiar faces. Unfortunately it wasn't enough for the semi-finals. The last boulder in particular still annoys me a little because it felt like it could have been done,” summarized Schenk.

Piccolruaz, on the other hand, said: “I would have liked to have shown a better performance, but I started the competition slowly and then it became more and more difficult. But I'm pleased that we have a World Cup here in my home country that is also extremely well received by my colleagues around the world and that they describe as the best competition of the year. The Lead World Cup will begin shortly and that will be a bit of a fresh start to this season. I don’t feel bad.”

The Boulder World Cup in Brixen will continue on Saturday, June 10th from 11 a.m. with the women's semi-finals. The decision will be made in the evening, in the final from 20 p.m. Immediately afterwards, “Shanty Powa” and a DJ make the vertical shake - after all, the Boulder World Cup in Brixen not only impresses with top sporting performances, but also with an equally high-class supporting program.

Boulder World Cup in Brixen: Men’s qualification

1. Sorato Anraku (JPN) 5T5z 7 6
1. Dohyun Lee (KOR) 4T5z 6 6
3. Jongwon Chon (KOR) 5T5z 9 7
3. Adam Ondra (CZE) 4T5z 6 8
5. Meichi Narasaki (JPN) 5T5z 10 6
5. Jack MacDougall (GBR) 4T5z 9 10
7. Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN) 4T5z 5 6
7. Jan-Luca Posch (AUT) 4T5z 11 11
9. Tomoa Narasaki (JPN) 4T5z 5 8
9. Ritsu Kayotani (JPN) 4T5z 13 9
11. Nimrod Marcus (ISR) 4T5z 6 8
11. Alberto Ginés López (ESP) 4T5z 16 14
11. Toby Roberts (GBR) 4T5z 16 14
14. Ellis Ernsberger (USA) 4T5z 6 11
15. Yannick Flohé (GER) 4T5z 19 19
15. Maximillian Milne (GBR) 4T5z 8 9
17. Colin Duffy (USA) 4T4z 17 11
17. Anze Peharc (SLO) 4T5z 8 11
19. Hamish McArthur (GBR) 4T5z 10 10
19. Gholamali Baratzadeh (IRI) 3T5z 6 9