Team Japan Looks Strong in World Cup Qualification; Three Male Americans Advance To Semifinals
Nathaniel Coleman, Zach Galla and Sean Bailey will advance to tomorrow's semifinal round in Salt Lake City. Leading the pack are Kokoro Fujii and Tomoa Narasaki, from Japan.
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The third Bouldering World Cup of the season (and the second consecutive bouldering event in Salt Lake City) began this morning with a rousing men’s qualification round. Team Japan demonstrated the strongest collective showing, with Kokoro Fujii and Tomoa Narasaki leading the pack into tomorrow’s semifinals. Placing just below Fujii and Narasaki was Slovenia’s Anze Peharc, a finalist from last weekend’s bouldering World Cup.
The top 20 men from the morning’s round will advance to the semifinals. Included in that bunch are a number of Americans: Hometown-favorite Nathaniel Coleman finished the qualification round in 11th place, Zach Galla in 12th, and Sean Bailey in 13th. Coleman, in particular, got the Salt Lake City crowd hyped early with a quick top of the first men’s boulder; he struggled on the second boulder, but came back strong to top the remaining three boulders.
Among the surprising exits that resulted from the round were Germany’s Jan Hojer, who finished in 22nd and narrowly missed the cutoff for semifinals. Other veterans of the circuit, including Slovenia’s Gregor Vezonik and France’s Mickael Mawem, also climbed well—each earning three tops—but will not advance to the next round either.
A full list of qualification places (and the 20 competitors who will compete in semifinals) is below.
What to watch for in the next round: France’s youthful phenom Mejdi Schalck surprised a lot of people by making a podium at last weekend’s Bouldering World Cup. He is currently tied for eighth place.
The women’s qualification round kicks off in just a few hours. Check back for updates and follow us on social media.
Men’s Results
1. Kokoro Fujii (JPN)
2. Tomoa Narasaki (JPN)
3. Anze Peharc (SLO)
4. Nicolai Uznilk (AUT)
5. Sohta Amagasa (JPN)
6. Simon Lorenzi (BEL)
7. Alex Waterhouse (GBR)
8. Nicclas Collin (BEL)
8. Mejdi Schalck (FRA)
10. Alex Megos (GER)
11. Nathaniel Coleman (USA)
12. Zack Galla (USA)
13. Sean Bailey (USA)
14. Rei Sugimoto (JPN)
15. Yannick Flohe (GER)
16. Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN)
17. Sean McColl (CAN)
18. Maximillian Milne (GBR)
19. Aleksey Rubtsov (RUS)
20. Manuel Cornu (FRA)
Photo by Daniel Gajda