Despite the ongoing IFSC and Flosports livestreaming debacle, the 2017 IFSC Boulder World Cup kicked off in Meiringen, Switzerland and was free to watch live on Youtube as a compromise whilst discussions continue. Great Britain's Shauna Coxsey bounced back to form following her recovery from shoulder surgery at the end of last season, taking the win with a very convincing lead ahead of her competitors. The Japanese team continued their meteoric rise ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, with one third of the finalists representing Japan and Kokoro Fujii taking Gold.
Having topped the qualification rankings and placed third in the semi-finals, Shauna looked composed throughout the competition, but truly came into her own in the final - topping all four problems. Austria's Katharina Sauerwein placed 2nd, topping two out of the four boulders. Notable absences from the final were Japan's Akiyo Noguchi - who narrowly missed out on semi-finals in 21st place - and multi-World Cup winner Anna Stohr who finished 43rd.
Commenting on Facebook, Shauna was elated with her win:
In the Men's event, the difficulty of the final problems resulted in few tops. Kokoro Fujii's quick flash of problem three secured him the win ahead of Russia's Alexei Rubtsov and his Japanese teammate Keita Watabe. Half of the men's final field were Japanese, with a staggering nine Japanese competitors in total making the top 30 rankings.
The next round will take place in Chongqing, China on 22nd-23rd April followed by Nanjing the next weekend.
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Regarding the livestreaming debate, it is not yet clear if and how the deal will be renegociated or how the following rounds will be broadcast, although it appears that a subscription will still be necessary for livestreams and replays whatever happens. Creator of the petition against the deal with Flosports, Peter Crane has found the IFSC to be evasive in their responses and has updated the petition - which now stands at over 12,000 signatories - with the following blog post. Read his opinion piece for UKC. Competitors staged a protest during the opening ceremony at Meiringen, where they held up red cards to garner the attention of the IFSC.
Results
Rank | Name | Nation | Semi's | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Shauna Coxsey | GBR | 3t7 3b7 | 4t10 4b8 |
2 | Katharina Saurwein | AUT | 2t3 3b8 | 2t6 3b13 |
3 | Miho Nonaka | JPN | 4t9 4b9 | 1t2 3b6 |
4 | Stasa Gejo | SRB | 3t5 3b3 | 1t3 3b3 |
5 | Petra Klingler | SUI | 2t2 4b9 | 1t3 2b3 |
6 | Janja Garnbret | SLO | 3t9 3b7 | 0t 2b4 |
7 | Michaela Tracy | GBR | 2t4 3b7 | |
8 | Fanny Gibert | FRA | 2t6 4b8 | |
9 | Sol Sa | KOR | 2t7 2b3 | |
10 | Andrea Kümin | SUI | 1t1 4b13 | |
11 | Manon Hily | FRA | 1t1 3b8 | |
12 | Hannah Meul | GER | 1t1 2b2 | |
13 | Alma Bestvater | GER | 1t1 2b6 | |
14 | Mei Kotake | JPN | 1t2 2b2 | |
15 | Chloe Caulier | BEL | 1t2 2b3 | |
16 | Katja Kadic | SLO | 0t 2b2 | |
17 | Hung Ying Lee | TPE | 0t 2b5 | |
18 | Sierra Blair-Coyle | USA | 0t 2b6 | |
19 | Vita Lukan | SLO | 0t 2b7 | |
20 | Megan Mascarenas | USA | 0t 1b1 | |
27 | Leah Crane | GBR | Qual' 2t5 4b8 | |
71 | Tara Hayes | GBR | Qual' 0t 2b4 |
Rank | Name | Nation | Semi's | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kokoro Fujii | JPN | 2t5 4b9 | 1t1 3b6 |
2 | Aleksei Rubtsov | RUS | 3t9 4b5 | 1t2 2b8 |
3 | Keita Watabe | JPN | 2t7 4b5 | 1t3 2b12 |
4 | Rei Sugimoto | JPN | 3t7 4b7 | 1t5 3b7 |
5 | Jernej Kruder | SLO | 2t4 4b4 | 0t 2b3 |
6 | David Firnenburg | GER | 2t3 4b9 | 0t 1b4 |
7 | Gabriele Moroni | ITA | 2t7 3b5 | |
8 | Rolands Rugens | LAT | 1t1 4b6 | |
9 | Yoshiyuki Ogata | JPN | 1t1 4b7 | |
10 | Sergii Topishko | UKR | 1t2 4b9 | |
11 | Nicolas Pelorson | FRA | 1t3 4b13 | |
12 | Jongwon Chon | KOR | 1t3 3b3 | |
13 | Jan Hojer | GER | 1t4 4b7 | |
14 | Dmitrii Sharafutdinov | RUS | 0t 4b10 | |
15 | Gholamali Baratzadeh | IRI | 0t 4b17 | |
16 | Mickael Mawem | FRA | 0t 3b5 | |
17 | Manuel Cornu | FRA | 0t 3b7 | |
17 | Martin Stranik | CZE | 0t 3b7 | |
19 | Meichi Narasaki | JPN | 0t 3b10 | |
20 | Thilo Jeldrik Schröter | NOR | 0t 3b13 | |
33 | Nathan Phillips | GBR | Qual' 3t8 3b7 | |
35 | William Ridal | GBR | Qual' 3t5 4b5 | |
49 | Tyler Landman | GBR | Qual' 3t14 5b11 | |
57 | Matthew Cousins | GBR | Qual' 2t6 5b10 | |
65 | Orrin Coley | GBR | Qual' 2t9 2b6 | |
102 | David Barrans | GBR | Qual' 0t 4b8 |
Watch the full finals replay below:
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