SEO THE CHAMONIX SEMI-FINAL STANDOUT
Both the women and men have their Lead finalists after a closely fought pair of semi-final rounds in Chamonix
South Korea’s Chaehyun Seo looked the most impressive in the women’s semi-final to head the eight finalists into the evening finale while Slovenia’s Luka Potocar came out early to set the men’s benchmark.
There was a cluster of women who fell around the 45-46 hold mark, but Seo was one of three climbers who moved pasta and climbed up to 51+ for first position.
Bulgaria’s Aleksandra Totkova was second on hold 49+ and USA’s Annie Sanders hit hold 48+, and Totkova knew from looking at the route she could be in with a good shot at the final eight.
“When I saw the route I knew it would be my style, I really liked it. When I climbed, I felt really good on the wall, and I managed every move the way I thought I was going to. Maybe where I fell maybe I could have gone with the other hand, but it was a good climb.”
Talking about the 45-46 hold Toktova said: “I felt this move was hard and I should go straight for it, but then it felt ok and I could shake a bit and go again. It was a bit of a risky move, but I believed I could hold the hold.”
Another South Korean, Jain Kim, and Austria’s Jessica Pilz where fourth and fifth respectively reaching hold 46+.
Hold 45+ saw seven climbers fall, but there was only space for three more finalists. Those places went to Great Britain’s Erin McNeice, France’s Manon Hily and Slovenia’s Rosa Rekar. For Hily, the French woman has said this will be her final World Climbing Series event so she will look to savour her final, final appearance.
Just missing out was USA’s Brooke Raboutou in ninth, but the American was just happy to be on the wall after an injury earlier in the season: “It was definitely the biggest injury I have had in my career, I tore the labrum in the semi-final in Bern, but luckily it was just a partial tear.
“Rehab has been going really well, I’m working with a great crew, and they said I don’t need surgery and PT (physical therapy) should work. It’s been PT twice a day and not much training, but I felt safe to climb here because it’s Lead. For me it’s a really good mental challenge to go into a competition not in peak shape but do it for the pure pleasure.”
Full results can be found here
Slovenia’s Luka Potocar was the third climber to take on the men’s semi-final, and when he reached hold 38+ he maybe wouldn’t have expected to be in first position by the end of the round, but that’s where he ended up.
With another 20+ climbers to come that included World Climbing Series medallists and Olympic medallists, Potocar watched as every climber came out, tried, and failed to reach his high point. It means he will be the last climber out in the men’s competition in Chamonix later this evening.
The crowd will have a climber to cheer in the men’s final as Sam Avezou was Potocar’s closest contender on hold 38. For sure the crowd will get loud when Avezou clips in for his final climb.
There were four climbers on hold 37+ and all made it through to the final. Spain’s Alberto Ginés López, Japan’s Satone Yoshida, South Korea’s Dohyun Lee and Indonesia’s Putra Tri Ramadani. These are the calibre of climbers that Potocar had to watch climb…
The last two places in the final will be taken by Japanese climbers as Sorato Anraku reached hold 36+ and Zento Murashita reached hold 35+, just ahead of Austria’s Jakob Schubert who looked formidable in the qualification but pinged off the wall on hold 34+ with a foot slip.
Speaking after his climb Anraku said: “For now, I’m happy to be in the final, but I’m not satisfied with that semi-final climb. I’m frustrated not to be first in the semi-final, and I obviously want to move up in the final. I’m only aiming for a victory.”
Anraku has seemed to struggle a little in lead this season as his last two comps have been at the same time as Boulder competitions he has won, but this time around Anraku is fully focused on one discipline: “I’m completely recovered now from the fatigue, and I have had a chance to work on Lead more than Boulder for a bit, so I am feeling good.”
Full results can be found here
NEXT UP
The event will conclude with the finals at 20:30 (UTC+2:00).
News and updates about all World Climbing events will be available on the World Climbing website, and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.
