Only eight can remain in contention for a podium place in Bern, and those names have been set after another hard-fought Bern semi-final boulder round.
Despite a slow start in which he failed to score a point, Japan’s Sorato Anraku overcame the first boulder disappointment to notch up three tops to take top spot with 74.2pts.
Anraku leads a Japan one-two into the final with teammate Sohta Amagasa joining him after a two top, two zone finish for 69.5pts, and Amagasa is feeling very confident of his chances in the final. When asked what his expectations were, he simply said: “Win.”
The confidence has been built up from knowing his body and how he feels when he climbs. After his semi-final round he said: “I’m so happy. Before the semi-final I was so nervous because last time in Keqiao I had a bad performance. Today my performance was really good.
“The boulders were hard, but I think they were my style.”
Hannes Van Duysen was just 0.1 behind Amagasa in third. The Belgian topped the same two boulders as Amagasa – one and four – and zoned the other two, but it came down to attempts which put Van Duysen into third on 69.4pts.
The only other climber to top two boulders was France’s Paul Jenft. His tops on two and four put him into a good position on 68.4pts which was ultimately enough for fourth spot.
Unable to match his teammate but still making it through to the final in fifth on 54.5pts was Mejdi Schalck. A fourth boulder top shot him up the leaderboard and into the final.
In sixth on 54.4pts was Great Britain’s Max Milne. Milne has the ability to have fun in competitions and uses the crowd for inspiration – it’s a lovely thing to see when a climber and crowd feed off each other.
Speaking after his round had finished Milne said: “I’m super happy with my climbing. The crowd is insane; they are so hype. The boulders were showy. It felt like a final.”
Milne is back this season after last season was hampered by injury, and he is happy that he can now fully commit to the competitions without the fear of his injury recurring. He is also happy that he can bounce back mentally in season as well: “I topped the first boulder and zoned on all the others. I timed out on the last, but I still topped it. I’m happy that didn’t cost me a finals place.
“I’m just happy to be back in finals. I had a hard time in China. Sometimes that happens but you need to stay focused, and I feel I’ve come back well.”
Israel’s Adi Bark will compete in the final finishing in seventh on 53.8pts with his extra zone making a big difference considering the stack of climbers behind him in the standings.
From eight down to 16, every climber topped boulder four and scored two zones across the other three, but it was USA’s Colin Duffy who managed it in the fewest attempts and his score of 44.8pts kept him in the hunt for a Bern boulder medal.
The final action of the event will take place later today with the men’s Boulder winner bringing to a close another World Climbing competition in Bern.
RESULTS
Full results can be found here
WHERE TO WATCH
The semi-final and final rounds will be live streamed on the World Climbing YouTube channel, with geo-blocking applied to selected countries and territories.
For all the facts and stats of the event click here.
For an overview of where to watch the event click here.
News and updates about all World Climbing events will be available on the official website, and on the Federation’s digital channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and exclusively for the Chinese audience, Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.
