Akhtar, Milne and Roberts make finals at Keqiao Boulder World Cup

The semi-final round saw four GB Climbing athletes take to the wall for the first men’s Boulder competition of the World Cup series. Due to worsening weather conditions, the qualification round was cancelled on Monday 8 April, which means that the semi-final today featured 67 athletes, with the top 20 moving into the final.

In Group B, Great Britain’s Toby Roberts got four tops and five zones, which was enough to top the group with Japan’s Narasaki Tomoa also achieving the same, but in more attempts. Speaking to the IFSC, Roberts said: “I had a pretty good round. I didn’t really know what to expect as the routesetters didn’t have a huge amount of time to set the boulders, so coming out it was good just to put down a couple of good boulders.”

Finishing together in 19th position were GB Climbing athletes Dayan Akhtar and Max Milne. The pair now get a chance to contest the podium. Speaking with the IFSC, Akhtar said: “Kind of lost for words after the wait. After dropping the last two moves back-to-back on four and five, I thought I had blown it and wasn’t going to make it. But for it to be that close and sitting on the chair for an hour watching everyone go on, it was super stressful. I’m lost for words. I actually made it. I’m over the moon and can’t wait to climb again.”

Whilst Jack MacDougall flashed boulder one, he narrowly missed out on qualifying for the finals, finishing his competition in 25th place. Jack’s competition ends today but he will return to the wall on Friday 12 April in the IFSC Lead and Speed World Cup in Wujiang. 

Akhtar, Milne, Roberts, and the other 17 finalists will be back to take on the final boulders later today.

For full results click here