Japan and China Close Out World Cup Season with Strong Performances
This article originally appeared on Climbing
Although the spectacle lacked some of the star power of previous events this year (no Janja Garnbret, no Adam Ondra, no Brooke Raboutou, no Natalia Grossman, etc.) it still proved to be a suitable bookend to the season. Most importantly, the Wujiang World Cup gave some indication of competitors that will likely shine as the qualification pathway for next summer's Paris Olympics continues throughout the World Cup "off-season."
Anraku and Mori Steal the Show in Lead
The earliest standouts of the men's division in the Lead discipline at Wujiang were Team Japan's duo of Taisei Homma and Sorato Anraku. They each surged to the head of the pack in the qualification portion (and, in the case of Homma, notched the only top of the entire men's qualification round).
Homma and Anraku continued to stay coupled together in the ensuing semi-final round, cruising through the route of red wedges and turquoise pinches to score the only tops of the semi-finals. In fact, much of the initial intrigue for the final round was whether Homma and Anraku would finally get separated on the scorecards.
But the strongest performance in that final round came first from their Japanese teammate, Shion Omata. 17-year-old Omata worked to the midway point of the finals' route and established a burly high point (30+) before falling on a desperate cross-move amid some cruxy terrain of orange slopers.
Omata's high point remained the standard as other competitors--Belgium's Nicolas Collin, Japan's Ao Yurikusa, Switzerland's Sascha Lehmann, among them--fell lower in the sequence of orange slopers. Not even Homma, despite the figurative momentum from earlier rounds, could surpass Omata's mark. Homma fell while launching a right hand for the 27th hold. But Anraku, unquestionably the Rookie of the Year (if such a designation existed in comp climbing) climbed last and surged through the cruxy orange section. He surpassed Omata's high point and continued onto the headwall, eventually falling nine moves higher than any other competitor. It was a decisive gold medal performance from Anraku--likely his most impressive of the entire season--and it exemplified why many pundits have Anraku pegged to be comp climbing's next megastar.
The women's division for the Lead discipline also featured some jaw-dropping performances from members of Team Japan. In particular, teammates Ai Mori and Natsuki Tanii were at the upper end of the leaderboard in the qualification round, surrounded on the scorecards by members of Team Slovenia (Mia Krampl and Vita Lukan) and Jain Kim of South Korea. But as the event progressed, Mori and Tanii pulled away from the pack. In the semi-final round, for instance, Mori and Tanii were the only two competitors to reach the top of the route--while many other would-be favorites got bottle-necked midway up the wall.
In the final round, China's Yuetong Zhang roused the home crowd and set a high point of 22+ on the route. Despite seeming like a fairly low score, Zhang's 22+ remained the benchmark as other competitors struggled on a trio of black half-sphere volumes and set scores slightly below Zhang's. (Japan's Miho Nonaka, for example, notched 21+, and her teammate Futaba Ito reached hold 22, not enough to overtake Zhang on the leaderboard.)
Just as it seemed like the scores might remain surprisingly low, Austria's Jessica Pilz climbed noticeably quickly and rocketed through the section of half-spheres. She set a new high point (31+) before falling on an orange undercling. South Korea's Kim and Japan's Tanii were not able to advance into the same section of orange holds, but Mori--climbing last--appeared untroubled throughout all the lower and midway cruxes. Mori progressed past Pilz' mark and continued onto the headwall. Mori didn't quite reach the top and fell on a left-hand crimp, but her performance was worthy of the gold medal. "It certainly wasn't a perfect round, but we got the separation we wanted--and a clear winner," commentator Matt Groom espoused about the low-scoring finals.
Wu and Deng Race to Victories in Speed
The biggest star of the Speed portion was world-record holder Aleksandra Miroslaw of Poland. As expected, she led the way in the women's qualification round by clocking a blazing time of 6.30 seconds--not too far off her own world-record. And in the women's final that came later, Miroslaw appeared to be in top form and beat Italy's Giulia Randi in the opening race of the tournament bracket.
Yet, just as it was starting to feel like Wujiang would be another golden showcase for Miroslaw, she slipped in a race against China's Di Niu. This shocking upset opened up the remainder of the tournament bracket considerably. The person who benefited most was Miroslaw's Polish teammate, Natalia Kalucka, who beat Niu in the following race and then faced China's Lijuan Deng in the Big Final. Deng ultimately outraced Kalucka to win the gold medal in a razor-close race, while Niu earned the bronze medal by winning the Small Final.
The men's division was marked by strong performances from home crowd favorites as well--with Llang Zhang, Yu Lin, Peng Wu, and Jingjie Huang, all from Team China, leading the qualification portion. They each won their opening races in the final round too, but it was Peng Wu and Jingjie Huang who remained victorious in the races that followed--ultimately funneling to a Big Final showdown, in which Wu beat Huang by just 0.05 seconds to win the gold medal. It wasn't quite a podium sweep by China, as surprise standout Ryo Omasa of Japan advanced all the way to the Small Final and earned the bronze medal by narrowly besting Euncheol Shin of South Korea.
Here are a few more thoughts to close out the Wujiang happenings and the 2023 season...
American readers will likely notice a lack of names from Team USA in this recap. The American roster was pretty limited, with no Americans taking part in the Lead portion, and only a few taking part in Speed. In one race, Americans Sam Watson and Zach Hammer found themselves going head-to-head in the men's Speed finals. Hammer slipped, so it didn't exactly end up being a highlight-reel race. But it was still one of the only bright spots for American competitors in Wujiang.
Unfortunately, this entire event was marred by bad production, at least for the livestream that made its way to American viewers on YouTube. From glitchy (or nonexistent) video feeds to bad microphone audio, it was a poor way to end things for a season that was otherwise the best-ever from a video production standpoint.
While we're on the subject of how the event looked, what was with the grayness of the whole thing? The interior of the Fenhu Culture and Sports Center--the host venue--looked like a cavernous space with dim lighting and drab walls. At least the crowd was energetic, which helped alleviate some of that visual dullness.
Panning out, there's perhaps no competitor who had more of a complicated season than South Korea's Jain Kim, in a performative sense. From the highest of highs (coming out of retirement, winning a gold medal) to the lowest of lows (such as her shockingly low fall in these finals at Wujiang), 35-year-old Kim remained a fan favorite and is undoubtedly a legend. But we also saw more variation in her results than ever before. One big question for many fans is whether or not Kim will be back for another season next year. I certainly hope so, as I think she's still a gold medal contender in any event she enters, even with the inconsistency that we witnessed this season.
This event marked the first-ever lead final for Japan's Futaba Ito. Another big question for fans: Was this the dawn of a new era for Ito, or just a particularly positive blip. Time will tell in seasons to come.
I love watching every World Cup, but like a lot of fans (and competitors), I think the season is too long. Consider that it started back in April, and it also included a World Championship and the onset of the 2024 Olympic qualification pathway. That's nearly six months of nonstop action, so let's all catch our breath and start dreaming about how exciting next season will be.
Results
Lead
Women
Ai Mori (JPN)
Jessica Pilz (AUT)
Natsuki Tanii (JPN)
Yuetong Zhang (CHN)
Futaba Ito (JPN)
Miho Nonaka (JPN)
Jain Kim (KOR)
Manon Hily (FRA)
Men
Sorato Anraku (JPN)
Shion Omata (JPN)
Taisei Homma (JPN)
Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN)
Yunchan Song (KOR)
Ao Yurikusa (JPN)
Sascha Lehmann (SUI)
Nicolas Collin (BEL)
Speed
Women
Lijuan Deng (CHN)
Natalia Kalucka (POL)
Di Niu (CHN)
Men
Peng Wu (CHN)
Jingjie Huang (CHN)
Ryo Omasa (JPN)
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