The final round of the 2018 IFSC Boulder World Cup took place in Munich, Germany last weekend. The ever-popular event was well attended by both competitors and spectators alike, with a crowd of 4000 filling the Olympic Stadium on the Saturday evening. Team GB's Emily Phillips made her first semi-final after an impressive performance in the qualifiers and placed 20th, while Matt Cousins just missed out on the semis in 21st place.
IFSC Climbing Worldcup (B) - Munich (GER) 2018
Although Jernej Kruder (SLO) guaranteed himself the overall ranking win by qualifying for the finals, the women's overall title was hotly contested by Akiyo Noguchi (JPN) and Miho Nonaka (JPN) and remained to be decided in the final. In order to win, Miho had to place above Akiyo. However, Janja Garnbret (SLO) was unbeatable in the final, flashing all 4 problems with ease to secure Gold. Despite the pressure of the overall title weighing on the Japanese climbers' minds, both performed well and topped all four problems, with Miho requiring two fewer attempts to place 2nd ahead of Akiyo and take her first overall World Cup title.
In the men's final, the competitors faced a tougher set of problems. Gregor Vezonik (SLO) stunned the crowd with a flash of the first problem, which subsequently proved too difficult for the rest of the field as nobody else managed to reach the zone hold. The competition remained tight, with two tops maximum for the top 5 competitors and attempts for zones splitting Jernej Kruder and Jakob Schubert in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Overjoyed at his first World Cup win, Gregor was tearful both on the mats and the podium, on what was a very successful day for the Slovenian team.
The main event of 2018 - the Innsbruck World Championships - is the next stop on the IFSC calendar, on 6th-16th September.
Overall Rankings
Men
1. Jernej Kruder (SLO)
2. Tomoa Narasaki (JPN)
3. Rei Sugimoto (JPN)
Women
1. Miho Nonaka (JPN)
2. Akiyo Noguchi (JPN)
3. Fanny Gibert (FRA)
Comments
Janga simply seems untouchable in boulders or lead. Shame she wasn't able to go to all the rounds.
I don't know much about comps but it looks like Slovenia and Japan have got something right by looking at the rankings.
What happened to stasa gejo? Am I guessing she picked up an injury in the qualifiers?
I thought Miho's performance was particularly impressive. She went just after Akiyo on every boulder so she had that added pressure of knowing what she had to do. Despite that she climbed superbly, never appeared stressed, and just gone with job. And she was clearly made up when she completed that last boulder. Another emotional moment and great to see.
I also thought the British guys did pretty well despite not making the semis. The large and very strong 125 field means they actually placed pretty well and ahead of a number of excellent top climbers. Nathan finished ahead of Alex Khazanov, Nathaniel Coleman, Martin Stranik and GG Mondet. Slightly higher up Aiden was also ahead of Michael Piccolruaz and Alban Levier. And Matt Cousins was ahead Sean Bailey, Dmitrii Sharafutdinov and Alex Megos. With such a strong men's field I don't think the numbers necessarily do justice to their abilities.
The final was good but must be the only one that didn't feature any of the regulars: Alexey Rubtsov, Jongwon Chon or Tomoa Narasaki.
She didn't make semis and came 31st. She wasn't the only big name to miss the cut. Kyra Condie and Ashima Shiraishi also didn't make semis. All the more impressive is Emily Philips result.