SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champion Toby Roberts recovered from a disappointing start at the 2025 IFSC Climbing World Championships, advancing to the men's boulder semifinals on Tuesday after finishing third in the qualification.
Roberts, who failed to reach the semifinals in the men's lead qualification on Monday, topped three of the five boulder problems and secured a fourth scoring zone to join South Korea's Lee Do-hyun in third place. Japan's Sorato Anraku, the 2024 Paris Olympic silver medalist, and compatriot Meichi Narasaki shared the top spot.
A total of 95 men and 76 women entered the boulder qualification round, with the top 24 from each advancing to the semifinals.
20-year-old Roberts has endured an uneven season following his gold medal performance in Paris last year. After missing the finals at the first four World Cup stops this season, he returned to the podium in Innsbruck in June but faltered again in the lead qualification here in Seoul.
"It's been up and down, basically the whole season really, but not making the lead semifinals, I am really disappointed with as I am more of a lead climber," Roberts said. "But to bounce back and make semifinals in boulder - I'm pretty psyched. I need to reset and focus and try to get into the boulder final. The lead didn't go how I wanted, but I can't let that affect my Boulder competition."
In the women's event, Japan's Futaba Ito and 17-year-old Tamar Cohen of Israel shared first place. Cohen, the reigning European Youth Cup champion, is making her World Championships debut after competing in just two senior World Cup events.
China fielded four men and four women in the boulder event, with Pan Yufei, a World Cup winner, finishing 12th in men's qualification, and Zhang Yuetong tying for 13th in the women's category. Both of them advanced to the semifinals scheduled for Saturday.
The championships will continue Wednesday with the women's speed final, where the first gold medal of the event will be awarded. ■
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