Sorato Anraku wins Boulder World Cup 2023 and final stage in Innsbruck

It's a wrap. The 2023 Boulder World Cup came to a close on Friday at the massive Kletterzentrum in Innsbruck, Austria, and was won by Japanese rising start Sorato Anraku who, at a mere 16 years of age, managed to pocket both his first World Cup gold medal and the men’s overall Boulder 2023 title.

Sorato qualified last for the finals and was therefore first out on each boulder. He set the pace with a quick flash on #1 and this was immediately followed by Jongwon Chon and Meichi Narasaki. Making their first appearance in a World Cup final round, Belgium's Nicolas Collin got this second go, as did France's Sam Avezou, while Simon Lorenzi failed to reach the zone. Sorato piled the pressure on the very physical problem #2 and sent it on his third go. His top was surprisingly collected for a 16-year-old, and the importance of this send was underlined by the fact that no other athlete managed to even reach the zone. Boulder #3, a slab with a 180° spin, required ultra delicate footwork and balance: Avezou proved he had this second go, Narasaki got it seventh only 3 seconds before the buzzer, while all others failed below the zone. As usual, it all boiled down to the problem #4. Love them or hate them, coordination problems are a fundamental repertoire of modern competition bouldering, and Sorato stuck the dyno seventh go to top out. Collin and Chon topped out on their 5th attempt and then all eyes were on Narasaki as a top in fewer than 7 attempts would secure him gold. Unfortunately he slipped pulling on and this distraction cost him dearly as he needed another 6 goes to match the final hold. Which meant first Sorato from Japan ahead of Narasaki and Avezou. Chon placed fourth, Collin fifth and Lorenzi, who had dominated the semifinals so convincingly, surprisingly failed to make a zone and make it onto the scoreboard.

Making his night even more memorable, Anraku Sorato was also awarded with the men’s Boulder season trophy, having surpassed South Korea’s Dohyun Lee with the 1,000 points he took in Innsbruck. Lee placed second, and Tomoa Narasaki followed in third place.

1 Sorato Anraku JPN 3t3z 11 9
2 Meichi Narasaki JPN 3t3z 15 11
3 Sam Avezou FRA 2t2z 4 3
4 Jongwon Chon KOR 2t2z 6 6
5 Nicolas Collin BEL 2t2z 7 7
6 Simon Lorenzi BEL 0t0z 0 0
7 Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN
8 Alexander Megos GER
9 Colin Duffy USA
9 Toby Roberts GBR
11 Tomoa Narasaki JPN
12 Ritsu Kayotani JPN
13 Hannes Van Duysen BEL
14 Dohyun Lee KOR
15 Kokoro Fujii JPN
16 Yufei Pan CHN
17 Jakob Schubert AUT
18 Martin Bergant SLO
18 Dillon Countryman USA
18 Zan Lovenjak Sudar SLO
21 Zach Galla USA
21 Edvards Gruzitis LAT
23 Jack Macdougall GBR
23 Mathieu Ternant FRA
25 Hannes Puman SWE
25 Daiki Sano JPN
27 Anze Peharc SLO
27 Yunchan Song KOR
29 Sascha Lehmann SUI
29 Gregor Vezonik SLO
31 Ilja Auersperg AUT
31 Sean Bailey USA
33 Andreas Hofherr AUT
33 Nimród Sebestyén Tusnády HUN
35 Oscar Baudrand CAN
35 Dominik Haertl AUT
35 Maximillian Milne GBR
38 Julian Wimmer AUT
39 Geva Levin ISR
39 Thilo Jeldrik Schröter NOR
41 Leo Favot FRA
41 Slav Kirov BUL
41 Arthur Le Bris FRA
41 Nicolai Uznik AUT
45 Leo Avezou FRA
45 Yannick Flohé GER
47 Luke Goh Wen Bin SGP
47 Maximilian Lenz AUT
47 Filip Schenk ITA
50 Shion Omata JPN
51 Jinbin Huang CHN
51 Max Kleesattel GER
53 Jernej Kruder SLO
53 Mikel Asier Linacisoro Molina ESP
53 Sean Mccoll CAN
56 Chingkheinganba Maibam IND
57 Jesse Grupper USA
57 Gabriele Moroni ITA
59 Samuel Butterworth GBR
59 Maxim Pare AUS
59 Yuval Shemla ISR
62 Alex Khazanov ISR
63 Elias Arriagada Krüger GER
63 Hector Lopez Valdez MEX
63 Timo Uznik AUT
66 Fredrik Serlachius SWE
67 Ido Fidel ISR
67 Ka-Chun Yau HKG
69 Paul Brand NED
69 Hugo Hoyer USA
69 Yannick Nagel GER
69 Thor Villegas García MEX
73 Nathan Martin LUX
73 Nikolay Rusev BUL
73 Joseph Xiberras GBR
76 Guillermo Peinado Franganillo ESP
77 Axel Lindfors FIN
77 Rolands Rugens LAT
77 Jonas Utelli SUI
80 Minsung Han KOR
81 Gianstefano Di Nino VEN
81 Peter Kuric SVK
83 Victor Baudrand CAN
83 Cheuk-Hei Ho HKG
83 Diego Lequerica Buscaglia PER
83 Richard Schwark BRA
87 Radin Foroughian IRI
88 Ciarán Scanlon IRL
88 Orfeas Tsiaousis GRE
90 Mateus Rodrigues Bellotto BRA
91 Guðmundur Freyr Arnarson ISL
91 Luis Castellanos VEN
91 Artyom Devyaterikov KAZ
91 Dylan Parks AUS
91 Joaquin Urrutia CHI
96 Calrin Curtis RSA
96 Alexey Panfilov KAZ
98 Lautaro Nicolás Soria Sanchez ARG
99 Benjamin Ayala CHI
99 Bautista Gregorini ARG
99 Jovan Ivanov MKD
99 Matej Markov MKD
99 Ioannis-Filippos Noel-Baker GRE
99 Pheaktra Sambath CAM
99 Mark Scanlon IRL
99 Roman Sivakov LTU
99 Birgir Óli Snorrason ISL
99 Marcelo Ignacio Vargas Claros ESA
109 Toivo Eloranta FIN
109 Daniel Alejandro Merino Ordóñez HON
DNS Reza Kolasangian IRI

FINAL RANKING 2023
1 Sorato Anraku JPN 3350
2 Dohyun Lee KOR 3130
3 Tomoa Narasaki JPN 3000
4 Toby Roberts GBR 2710
5 Mejdi Schalck FRA 2690
6 Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 2335
7 Jongwon Chon KOR 2275
8 Hannes Van Duysen BEL 2140
9 Meichi Narasaki JPN 1945
10 Yannick Flohé GER 1750.5
11 Colin Duffy USA 1628
12 Ritsu Kayotani JPN 1387.5
13 Kokoro Fujii JPN 1278
14 Sam Avezou FRA 1265
15 Jan-Luca Posch AUT 1163.5
16 Simon Lorenzi BEL 1118
17 Mickael Mawem FRA 1089.5
18 Daiki Sano JPN 997
19 Sean Bailey USA 973
20 Adam Ondra CZE 967.5
21 Maximillian Milne GBR 961.5
22 Nicolas Collin BEL 929.5
23 Nimrod Marcus ISR 881.5
24 Paul Jenft FRA 867
25 Nicolai Uznik AUT 828.5
26 Edvards Gruzitis LAT 823.5
27 Alberto Ginés López ESP 726.33
28 Yuji Inoue JPN 705
29 Zach Galla USA 686.5
30 Mathieu Ternant FRA 635.5
31 Manuel Cornu FRA 630.5
32 Hamish Mcarthur GBR 559
33 Alexander Megos GER 536.16
34 Yufei Pan CHN 506
35 Anze Peharc SLO 504.5
36 Jakob Schubert AUT 453.5
37 Nikolay Rusev BUL 404.16
38 Jack Macdougall GBR 364.33
39 Alex Khazanov ISR 336.5
40 Leo Avezou FRA 323
41 Dillon Countryman USA 303
42 Zander Waller USA 300
43 Zan Lovenjak Sudar SLO 299.5
44 Leo Favot FRA 282.5
45 Jernej Kruder SLO 257.33
46 Geva Levin ISR 256.5
47 Hannes Puman SWE 227
48 Ross Fulkerson USA 222
49 Gregor Vezonik SLO 221
50 Ellis Ernsberger USA 199.5
51 James Pope GBR 186.5
52 Martin Bergant SLO 178.66
53 Stefan Scherz AUT 176.5
54 Oscar Baudrand CAN 163.5
55 Yunchan Song KOR 161.5
56 Pierre Le Cerf FRA 137.5
56 Gholamali Baratzadeh IRI 137.5
58 Ao Yurikusa JPN 120
59 Slav Kirov BUL 117.5
60 Tomoaki Takata JPN 112.5
61 Gabriele Moroni ITA 105
62 Max Kleesattel GER 76.5
63 Jesse Grupper USA 75
64 Luka Potocar SLO 71
65 Elias Arriagada Krüger GER 62
66 Sungsu Lee KOR 61
67 Sascha Lehmann SUI 59.33
68 Hugo Hoyer USA 56
69 Thilo Jeldrik Schröter NOR 43.5
70 Ram Levin ISR 42
71 Nicolò Sartirana ITA 39.5
71 Ilja Auersperg AUT 39.5
73 Michael Piccolruaz ITA 38
74 Yannick Nagel GER 33.5
75 Filip Schenk ITA 33.16
76 Andreas Hofherr AUT 31.5
76 Nimród Sebestyén Tusnády HUN 31.5
78 Luke Goh Wen Bin SGP 29.32
79 Ido Fidel ISR 28.5
80 Victor Baudrand CAN 27.33
81 Junta Sekiguchi JPN 25.5
81 Dayan Akhtar GBR 25.5
83 Christopher Cosser RSA 25
84 Nathan Martin LUX 24.16
85 Dominik Haertl AUT 24
85 Arthur Le Bris FRA 24
87 Joseph Xiberras GBR 21.66
88 Yotam Ben Reuven ISR 20
88 Nathaniel Coleman USA 20
90 Jinbin Huang CHN 19.5
91 Julian Wimmer AUT 19
92 Michael O'neill IRL 17.5
93 Maxim Pare AUS 16.83
93 Ka-Chun Yau HKG 16.83
95 Lasse Von Freier GER 16.33
96 Axel Lindfors FIN 15.5
97 Ardch Intrachupongse THA 15
98 Felipe Ho Foganholo BRA 14.5
98 Minsung Han KOR 14.5
100 Guy Mcnamee CAN 13.32
101 Katsura Konishi JPN 11.5
101 Pietro Vidi ITA 11.5
101 Radin Foroughian IRI 11.5
101 Nils Favre SUI 11.5
105 Sean Mccoll CAN 11.33
106 Julien Clémence SUI 10.5
106 Rei Sugimoto JPN 10.5
108 Rolands Rugens LAT 10
109 Dylan Parks AUS 9.66
110 Chingkheinganba Maibam IND 9.32
111 Maximilian Lenz AUT 8.66
112 Liam Healy AUS 8.5
113 Shion Omata JPN 8
113 Mateus Rodrigues Bellotto BRA 8
113 Marcello Bombardi ITA 8
113 Antoine Girard FRA 8
117 Diego Lequerica Buscaglia PER 7
117 Ciarán Scanlon IRL 7
117 Samuel Healy AUS 7
120 Davide Marco Colombo ITA 6.5
121 Mikel Asier Linacisoro Molina ESP 6.33
122 Thor Villegas García MEX 6
122 Fredrik Serlachius SWE 6
124 Benjamin Vargas CHI 5
124 Eneko Carretero Cruz ESP 5
124 Guillermo Peinado Franganillo ESP 5
124 Paul Brand NED 5
128 Martin Stranik CZE 4.66
129 Cheuk-Hei Ho HKG 4.5
129 Jair Octavio Moreno Montoya MEX 4.5
131 Samuel Butterworth GBR 4.33
131 Yuval Shemla ISR 4.33
133 Jakub Zietek POL 4.16
134 Cheung-Chi Shoji Chan HKG 4
134 Aiden Yanev AUS 4
134 Chi-Fung Au HKG 4
134 Christian Wagner CHI 4
138 Hanwool Kim KOR 3.5
138 William Flores PUR 3.5
138 Hongil Kim KOR 3.5
141 Timo Uznik AUT 3.33
141 Hector Lopez Valdez MEX 3.33
143 Kindar Mcnamee CAN 3
143 Chia Hsiang Lin TPE 3
145 Hossein Familrohani IRI 2
145 Anton Young Hong Nielsen DEN 2
145 Theis Lindegren Elfenbein DEN 2
145 Wan Tong Lok MAC 2
149 Vaidotas Monstavicius LTU 1
149 Rodrigo Iasi Hanada BRA 1
149 Joaquin Urrutia CHI 1
149 Artyom Devyaterikov KAZ 1
149 Jachym Cink CZE 1
149 Tuukka Simonen FIN 1
149 Stepan Stranik CZE 1
149 Peter Kuric SVK 1
149 Jonas Utelli SUI 1
149 Minyoung Lee KOR 1
149 Lautaro Nicolás Soria Sanchez ARG 1