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Teva Mountain Games Semi-Finals

posted by dpm on 06/05/2010

Men’s Qualifiers
It’s old news now, but men’s qualifiers was just as exciting as the women’s, with a field of 52 men (The 53rd, American Julian Bautista, didn’t make it for some reason, though he was on the running order) getting whittled down to the 20 who climbed in semifinals this morning. 
Men’s Quali 1 was a tough balancy problem with some powerful moves up high involving a right hand sloper and a bad left hand crimp/undercling on a volume. Pressing off the sloper to get the right foot up and hit the DRCC Triple Threat Crimp on the higher volume was the crux for all the men who managed to make around the corner in the first place. (Pic 1)
Men’s Quali 2 was made up of powerful moves on a bulging wall and centered around a heelhook drop down and a low percentage last move off two gastons which dropped most of the men who’d made it that far. Several, including Kilian and Paul, saved themselves from the finish-hold barn door by quickly slapping their left hand back to the edge of the panel and squeezing.
Men’s Quali 3 was the steepest of the problems, and had the classic spin-around move on the large Motivation Volumes Soccer Ball feature. Leaving the soccer-ball involved a large cross with the left hand—which proved to be a bit too extended for many of the competitors. Kyle Owen had perhaps the best solution, when he campus-switched hands in the 3.5 finger pocket and went to the bonus hold before an easier come-in to the higher left hand that many competitors struggled to reach. The top was no joke either, with a big move out left to a left-facing gaston pinch which then needed to be matched—losing several of the stronger competitors.
Men’s Quali 4 seemed to be the easiest of the bunch, though a dyno at the beginning and a crimp cross over off the bonus hold were very challenging for some. With the possible exception of Q1, Q4 saw the most sends. 
Men’s Quali 5 was a slabby slopey problem, and definitely gave some competitors serious fits. Paul and Daniel both figured out a match at the bottom that made the moves around the corner and onto the slab much easier. Other competitors, like Carlo (perhaps due to height?) and the last climber out, Vail local Adam Markert (who was climbing in the sun), were unable to get to that section. Magnus had a disappointing finish to that problem as well, falling off the final hold.
 
Semifinals
The semifinal round went off this morning, from 10 am til around 1. The 20 men and 19 women (Johanna Ernst was injured in her fall from Quali 5 yesterday and was unable to compete), mostly struggled through their 4 semifinals problems, though the top finishers were clearly dominant, with Daniel and Anna Stohr (who are both going into finals in 1st place) crushed all their boulder problems. 
For the rest of the women, Alex and Alex did pretty well, though both slipped a few times unexpectedly before finishing the four problems. Also looking strong was Belgian Chloe Graftiaux, who came in 3rd from Semifinals. Juliane Wurm (German) and Maud Ansade (FRA)  round out the women’s six finalists. Francesca Metcalf made an impressive send of women’s 3, but it wasn’t enough to get her into finals.
Women Semi-final results:
1.     Anna Stohr (AUT)
2.     2. Maud Ansade (FRA)
3.     Chloe Graftiaux (BEL)
4.     Juliane Wurm (GER)
5.     Alex Puccio (USA)
6.     Alex Johnson (USA)
12. Francesca Metcalf (USA)
17. Audrey Gawrych
18. Sierra Blair-Coyle
 
For the men, semis seemed extremely difficult, with many of the top men succumbing to too many falls or making mistakes. Men’s 4 was perhaps the most difficult, with an upside-down move that confused many competitors and a powerful ending that lost all but Daniel Woods (though last year’s winner Jonas Baumann made a valiant attempt at the last move but slipped off at the jug). Perhaps the most disappointed of the men was 1st seeded Paul Robinson, who had a quick slip early on and didn’t quite recover (ending up in 9th). Jernej Kruder, the Slovenian who showed up out of nowhere and has been absolutely crushing, continued his near-domination of the problems (though #4 shut him down in the end). Rob D almost did 4, and was one of the first men to make real progress towards the top, to the delight of the crowd, before he succumbed to the slopers. Also of note, Japanese climber Tsukuru Hori, who you will remember had a banner season in Hueco, looked really strong despite his diminutive stature as he climbed his way into 5th.
 
Men Semi-final results
1.     Daniel Woods (USA)
2.     Jernej Kruder (SLO)
3.     Francois Kaiser (FRA)
4.     Kilian Fischuber (AUT)
5.     Tsukuru Hori (JPN)
6.     Wouter Jongeneenlen (NED)
 
9. Paul Robinson
13. Carlo Traversi
14. Rob D’Anastasio
16. Sean McColl (CAN)
18. Gabor Szekely (HUN)