Bouldering World Cup 2013: Sean McColl and Anna Stöhr win in Log Dragomer

The 4th stage of the Bouldering World Cup 2013 has mixed up the cards a little. Which means that the season, now at its halfway point, is still wide open. Only one thing is certain, at least for now: Anna Stöhr is unstoppable and has just clinched a poker of victories, winning in Slovenia and confirming once again that she is the absolute queen of bouldering. Her formula is simple and disarming: she competes and... wins. This latest victory is the fourth in a row and it's difficult to see how anyone can launch an effective challenge to this "dictatorship" of the three times Bouldering World Champion. At present Stöhr is way up there in the lead, well clear of the field and almost unreachable, 145 points ahead of Japan's Akiyo Noguchi.

And to think that at Log Dragomer France's Melissa Le Neve almost stole the show, sending the same number of problems and also collecting the same bonus points. A mere hair's breadth separated the two (2 fewer attempts to gain the bonuses), allowing super Anna to stand at the top of the podium while Le Neve's beautiful second place resulted in a giant leap in the overall ranking (from 12th to 7th). Akiyo Noguchi finished 4th and lost some points to increasingly successful Shauna Coxsey from Britain who placed third. It's worth pointing out Mina Markovic's excellent 5th place and also the somewhat surprising results of Alex Puccio and Katharina Saurwein (7th and 8th respectively): these two just missed out on the final due to Anne-Laure Chevrier great run; the Frenchwoman needed fewer attempts to gain the vital bonus points that paved her way into the final.

In the men's competition the king in Log Dragomer was undoubtedly Sean McColl. The Canadian called the fourth stage his own with his first win this season, sending 3 problems in the final as opposed to 2 by 21-year-old Jan Hojer from Germany who, in doing so, celebrated his best senior result so far. This silver medal means that he leapfrogged from 14th to 7th place in the overall standings and it also gave him the satisfaction of having beat King Dmitrii Sharafutdinov by a mere "nothing", or rather a costly attempt to reach a bonus zone.

Sharafutdinov obviously maintains his lead in the overall ranking but it's clear that in a World Cup such as this one all points "lost" are likely to prove costly sooner or later. Luckily for him though his closest rivals Jacob Schubert and Guillaume Glairon Mondet were eliminated, somewhat surprisingly, in the semifinals, finishing 9th and 12th respectively. The Russian can still celebrate his lead therefore, which stretches to +38 compared to the Austrian and +46 compared to the Frenchman. Swissman Cédric Lachat certainly had cause for celebration, for his 4th place brings him to 8th in the current ranking, as can Australia's James Kassay (5th place and 15th overall) and Germany's Thomas Tauporn (6th place and 12th overall). Those who fared worse than expected were Jorg Verhoeven and Kilian Fischhuber, while the best Italians were Stefan Scarpieri (19th) and Jenny Lavarda (21st). But the season is still a long one and the game of bouldering always holds plenty of surprises in store.

The next stage of the Bouldering World Cup 2013 takes place in Innsbruck (AUT) on 17 - 18 May.

>> Results men 4th stage Bouldering World Cup 2013 - Log Dragomer

>> Results Women 4th stage Bouldering World Cup 2013 - Log Dragomer