Toby Roberts regal at Brixen Boulder World Cup 2023

The fifth stage of the Boulder World Cup 2023 in Bressanone concluded on Sunday night with a thrilling victory of Toby Roberts. In the outstanding final, the 18-year-old from Great Britain prevailed over Dohyun Lee (South Korea) and Yoshiyuki Ogata (Japan) at the sold-out Vertikale wall. This marked the end of the Bressanone boulder festival, which over the three days attracted around 10,000 spectators to the cathedral city.

After the first boulder it seemed as if it might come down to a duel between Dohyun Lee and Toby Roberts, as they were the only athletes to solve problem #1. Lee started magnificently with a flash, while Roberts kept his cool and sent it after four attempts. Problem #2 proved tricky and no one got past the zone except for Sorato Anraku from Japan. The 16-year-old, second after the semis, fought his way to the top on his second go and after having gone empty-handed on the first boulder was suddenly propelled into provisional third.

All six finalists solved the third boulder problem. Lee remained in the lead with two tops and three zones on fewer attempts (3-7), while Anraku secured provisional third with his second top and stayed on the heels of the leading pair.

Problem #4 proved decisive. Both Yoshiyuki Ogata and Meichi Narasaki flashed the boulder with disarming ease, bumping themselves right up the leaderboard. Next out was Lee; he had won in Prague the previous week and everyone expected him to breeze up this burly boulder, too. Surprisingly though he got no further than the zone. Tomoa Narasaki and Anraku then failed even to latch the zone, paving the way for Roberts who had climbed superbly all weekend. Last out, he trailed behind Lee, Ogata and Narasaki and in order to win needed the top. He got the zone immediately but failed to get past the compression moves. He then fell on the dyno and things began to look bleak. But Roberts dug deep and with just over a minute to go, his final battle was an absolute masterclass in brute force, refined technique, grit and determination. He powered, writhed and wriggled and with just 20 seconds on the clock he matched the last hold to secure his first World Cup victory. Certainly not his last. As he vented his joy, anger and then sheer disbelief, the crowd in Brixen went absolutely berserk. It was a perfect ending to a perfect weekend. 

Thrilled organisers
"We have had three amazing days. Over the three days of the competition, we were able to welcome more than 10,000 spectators to the Vertikale, had a sold-out stadium almost at almost all times, and the weather cooperated too. I am speechless about how smoothly everything went. On behalf of our organising committee, I would like to thank our many partners and sponsors. But the biggest thanks go to our countless volunteers, without whom an event like this would not be possible. Bressanone is a climbing town. We will do everything we can to be on the World Cup calendar in the next few years as well," Ralf Preindl, President of the Organising Committee, summed up at the end of the Boulder World Cup in Bressanone.

As in 2022, the women's final on Saturday evening was won by Natalia Grossman from the USA. The podium was completed by Chaehyun Seo from South Korea and Staša Gejo from Serbia. The climbing circuit now moves on to Innsbruck, Austria, where the sixth stage of the Boulder World Cup 2023 is scheduled for next weekend.

1 Toby Roberts GBR 3t4z 10 7
2 Dohyun Lee KOR 2t4z 3 4
3 Yoshiyuki Ogata JPN 2t4z 5 6
4 Meichi Narasaki JPN 2t4z 5 11
5 Sorato Anraku JPN 2t2z 5 2
6 Tomoa Narasaki JPN 1t2z 1 2
7 Colin Duffy USA
8 Yannick Flohé GER
9 Alberto Ginés López ESP
10 Hamish Mcarthur GBR
11 Maximillian Milne GBR
12 Jan-Luca Posch AUT
13 Leo Favot FRA
13 Ritsu Kayotani JPN
15 Nimrod Marcus ISR
16 Jongwon Chon KOR
17 Jack Macdougall GBR
18 Anze Peharc SLO
19 Ellis Ernsberger USA
19 Adam Ondra CZE
21 Gholamali Baratzadeh IRI
21 Pierre Le Cerf FRA
23 Yuji Inoue JPN
23 Daiki Sano JPN
25 Zach Galla USA
25 Edvards Gruzitis LAT
27 Kokoro Fujii JPN
27 Nicolai Uznik AUT
29 Ross Fulkerson USA
29 Mathieu Ternant FRA
31 Hannes Puman SWE
31 Nicolò Sartirana ITA
33 Elias Arriagada Krüger GER
33 Gregor Vezonik SLO
35 Dillon Countryman USA
35 Ido Fidel ISR
37 Yotam Ben Reuven ISR
37 Joseph Xiberras GBR
39 Jesse Grupper USA
39 Yufei Pan CHN
41 Geva Levin ISR
41 Stefan Scherz AUT
43 Radin Foroughian IRI
43 Pietro Vidi ITA
45 Gabriele Moroni ITA
45 Maxim Pare AUS
47 Martin Bergant SLO
47 Guy Mcnamee CAN
47 Alexander Megos GER
50 Antoine Girard FRA
51 Diego Lequerica Buscaglia PER
51 Filip Schenk ITA
53 Nicolas Collin BEL
53 Davide Marco Colombo ITA
55 Minsung Han KOR
55 Nikolay Rusev BUL
57 Jernej Kruder SLO
57 Benjamin Vargas CHI
59 Luke Goh Wen Bin SGP
59 Michael O'neill IRL
61 Jinbin Huang CHN
61 Lasse Von Freier GER
63 Julien Clémence SUI
63 Cheuk-Hei Ho HKG
65 Leo Avezou FRA
65 Thilo Jeldrik Schröter NOR
67 Chingkheinganba Maibam IND
67 Dylan Parks AUS
67 Martin Stranik CZE
70 Michael Piccolruaz ITA
71 Nathan Martin LUX
71 Kindar Mcnamee CAN
73 Yunchan Song KOR
73 Ka-Chun Yau HKG
75 Sean Mccoll CAN
75 Lautaro Nicolás Soria Sanchez ARG
77 Axel Lindfors FIN
77 Joaquin Urrutia CHI
79 Nils Favre SUI
79 Vaidotas Monstavicius LTU
81 Ioannis-Filippos Noel-Baker GRE
81 Mark Scanlon IRL
83 Jovan Ivanov MKD
83 Matej Markov MKD
83 Daniel Alejandro Merino Ordóñez HON
83 Pheaktra Sambath CAM
87 Toivo Eloranta FIN
88 Bautista Gregorini ARG
88 Marcelo Ignacio Vargas Claros ESA
88 Michail Volyrakis GRE
Max Kleesattel GER

Link: climbingworldcup-brixen.it