Boulder qualification threw up a different sort of challenge for the women in Prague on the first day of the World Climbing Series Prague. With 85 starters being whittled down to 24 semi-finalists, the round saw a lot of topped and flashed boulders in a high-scoring session.
All the way down to 41st place climbers scored at least one top, but one climber was above the rest with five. Italy’s Camilla Moroni was the only climber to score the perfect 125pts.
Moroni said: “The round was easy, but I’m happy with my climbing because I feel like I have improved my flash climbing. I was nervous in the call zone because I knew the boulders were easy. My parents also come to watch me in the semis so I knew I couldn’t miss out on them.”
You may be wondering why Moroni knew she had to top all the boulders and do it quickly: “All the girls before me came back into the call zone after like a minute so I knew they would all be easy.”
With the groups split into two, the winner from Madrid last week, Great Britian’s Erin McNeice was the other first placed finisher with a score of 124.9pts.
One of many climbers to top all five boulders was McNeice’s teammate Zoe Peetermans who said: “My round went really well. I topped all five boulders and qualified the highest I ever have for a semi-final.”
Talking after her round had finished Peetermans explained: “I thought you had to do five tops to make semi’s, maybe you didn’t quite need it. I think I thrive when the boulders are a bit easier because it rewards not making mistake, and because they are a harder level for me, I just have to give it my all and fight, fight, fight. That gives me better emotions in the round, and the better my emotions the better I climb normally.”
The British climber is in good company in ninth overall with Australia’s Oce Mackenzie and France’s Lily Abriat also holding that position.
Team Japan had all six of their climbers through to the semi-final with four in the top seven positions. Futaba Ito and Miho Nonaka were third, Mao Nakamura was fifth and last week’s silver medallist Melody Sekikawa was seventh.
USA’s Annie Sanders made it into the semi-final, also in seventh, but teammates Nekaia Sanders and Melina Costanza failed to progress, as did Slovenia’s Jenny Buckley.
Oriane Bertone made it through, but only just in 23rd spot. The French climber was one of five that included Abriat and Zélia Avezou.
Anraku on course
Winning Athlete of the Week from the Madrid event both Japan’s Sorato Anraku – who is going for his fourth gold in a row – and Canada’s Oscar Baudrand both made it into the semi-final. Anraku was first and Baudrand was ninth.
Sharing the top spot with Anraku was Lee Dohyun who seemed a little off the pace in Madrid considering the high standards and levels we have to come to expect from the South Korean.
Germany’s Lucas Trandafir has had a mixed season so far with a ninth-place finish in Keqiao and a 31st in Bern before skipping the Madrid stop. In Prague, there were a few nerves starting to kick in for different reasons, but a good performance seemed to put them to bed.
Trandafir said: “I really had a lot of fun. I was a bit nervous as I slept really, really bad last night and I felt like my concentration wasn’t the best, but somehow, I pulled it through and it was a really good round for me.”
The German climber was so close to the final round in Keqiao, and he is hoping that a strong start in Prague could be the kick he needs in the competition to reach his season goals: “My goal is to get into finals at some point this season, but for the semi-final I do not have any real expectations.
“This year everything is so tight and anything can happen, but I will try to get into the final.”
Trandafir moved into the semi-final in fifth overall with France’s Mejdi Schalck also in that position due to the 101 climbers being split into two groups.
Trandafir had a mixed start to the season, Austria’s Nicolai Uznik, by his own admission, just had a bad one. In both Bern and Madrid he left the competition at the qualification stage, but for a climber who is a former European champion, you expect him to come back into form.
Uznik said: “I’m very happy. I didn’t have the best start to the season missing the semis in both Bern and Madrid. I was very close, so it was a bit heartbreaking. But I knew eventually I could show exactly what shape I am in. I’ve left it all behind and I climbed a bit more freely today so I’m very happy.”
Things could have been different for Uznik though who is using his experience on the international circuit to turn things around, not just in the season, but in the immediate event: “I already felt good in Madrid, maybe I got a little unlucky. Today I actually felt a bit worse in warm up, but I actually ended up doing very good on the mats, so maybe it was more of a mental change to climb a bit more freely and focus on myself.”
Uznik finished in ninth alongside Baudrand.
Last week’s podium all made it through to the semi-final with Anraku in first, USA’s Colin Duffy in 11th and France’s Samuel Richard in 15th. Teammate Max Bertone was the highest finisher in the French squad in third place alongside Japan’s Rei Kawamata.
Disappointed to miss out on semi-finals last week, South Korea’s Chon Jongwon and Japan’s Sohta Amagasa make it through this time around but will need to continue to improve finishing in 17th and 21st respectively.
