ASIAN GAMES BOULDER & LEAD QUALIFICATION: WHAT THE ATHLETES SAID

05 October 2023

The Asian Games moved on from Speed to the Boulder & Lead discipline with men’s and women’s qualification at the Shaoxing Keqiao Yangshan Sport Climbing Centre. Here’s some thoughts from the athletes.

Top five women’s qualifiers

MORI Ai (JPN)2. SEO Chaehyun (KOR)3. LUO Zhilu (CHN)4. SA Sol (KOR)5. MATSUFUJI Anon (JPN)

Women’s Boulder & Lead results here Top five men’s qualifiers

LEE Dohyun (KOR)2. ANRAKU Sorato (JPN)3. PAN Yufei (CHN)4. NARASAKI Meichi (JPN)5. CHON Jongwon (KOR)

Men’s Boulder & Lead results here WHAT THE ATHLETES SAID

Rochelle SUAREZ (PHI) – qualified for women’s semi-finals in 15^th position

“For Boulder qualification I got two tops, and I think the other two problems were really hard and I really had to try. But I think they were very doable for me. Overall, I was happy with the result. I’m just psyched to be here at the Asian Games as the venue is spectacular and you really feel the vibe when you climb. In some ways it feels like an outdoor set-up.

“During the Lead the wind was rushing through, and I got a bit rattled going for the first zone. It’s a nice route, but very hard for the Lead. I feel confident in my climbing, and I think I got into the semi-finals so I’m happy that the country got in and I will represent the Philippines in the semi-finals.”

Renming Dennis CHUA (SGP) – qualified for men’s semi-finals in 10^th position

“Boulder was a little easier than I thought, but I feel they created a good filter for the field that is here today. I’ve competed at a couple of World Cups, and some of the guys here are the top guys at a World Cup, so I thought it may be a little bit harder, but there is a wide range of abilities here so it can’t be too hard for qualification. I’m expecting it to be a lot harder for semis.

“Lead didn’t go as well as I thought. I made quite a huge mistake at one of the clips, but I guess that is one of the things about Lead right. You get one chance. It’s not too bad though, but I know I could do a bit better. At the end of the day Lead is my weaker discipline so I need to do a lot better in Boulder to overcompensate.

“I wouldn’t say it’s too much to aim for to be in the finals. Hopefully I can do well in the Boulder and decently in the Lead and just scrape through considering how strong the top few are.”