The first day competitions at the Boulder World Cup in Bressanone came to an end on Friday evening with the men’s qualifications, in which 91 climbers from 37 different countries took part. As in the women’s first round in the morning, there were no surprises here; the favourites solved the tasks with ease. Competitors included the two South Tyroleans Filip Schenk and Michael Piccolruaz, who did not qualify for the semi-finals.
Youngster Sorato Anraku from Japan delivered the strongest performance in group A. The 16-year-old achieved five tops for which he needed 7 attempts – two less than Jongwon Chon from Korea and three less than Meichi Narasaki (also from Japan) needed. Also advancing one round in this group were last year’s third-placed Tomoa Narasaki (5th in qualifying), another athlete of the strong Japanese team, and last year’s runner-up Maximilian Milne (Great Britain/8th).
In group B, eight boulderers managed four tops and five zones. Dohyun Lee (South Korea), who was victorious in Prague last weekend, needing six attempts, the fewest of all. The Czech climbing legend Adam Ondra was also strong with six and eight attempts respectively. In Prague, Ondra had finished second behind Lee. The third-best qualifying performance in Bressanone came from Jan-Luca Posch (Austria), who completed in two sets of eleven attempts. Olympic champion Alberto Ginés-López (Spain/6th) and last year’s winner Yannick Flohé from Germany also reached the semi-finals.
No Azurro in the semi-finals
None of the six athletes of the Italian national team in the qualification could get their ticket to the semi-finals – not even the two local athletes Filip Schenk and Michael Piccolruaz from Val Gardena. Schenk managed two tops, including a flash, and four zones, while Piccolruaz finished the route with a flash once, 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. I’m really cross about the last boulder because I really should have been able to complete it”, Schenk commented. Piccolruaz, on the other hand, stated: “I would have liked to have delivered a better performance, but I started the competition sluggishly and then it became more and more difficult. But I am happy that we have a World Cup here in my home country, which is also incredibly well received by my colleagues around the world and which they call the best competition of the year. The Lead World Cup is about to start and it’s a bit of a reboot for this season. I’m not feeling bad.”
The Boulder World Cup in Bressanone will continue on Saturday, 10 June from 11:00 with the women’s semi-finals. The results will be the determined in the evening, in the final from 20:00. Immediately afterwards, “Shanty Powa” and a DJ will bring the vertical to life – after all, the Boulder World Cup in Bressanone not only inspires with top sporting performances, but also with an equally top-class supporting programme.
Results qualification Boulder World Cup Bressanone, men:
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
