McNeice, Milne and Roberts make Lead finals in Wujiang
Qualification:
The first Lead competition of the World Cup series got underway yesterday (12 April) in Wujiang, China. Erin McNeice, Molly Thompson Smith, Jack Macdougall, Max Milne, and Toby Roberts represented GB Climbing
In the women’s competition, Molly Thompson-Smith was back on top form, finishing 6th. This follows her 41st placing in the Boulder competition in Keqiao. After a sensational performance this week, Erin McNeice continues her successful start to the 2024 season by sliding into the semi-finals in 19th position. This is a personal best for McNeice and her first time in a Lead semi-final on the World Cup circuit.
Toby Roberts jointly led the men’s round after topping both problems. He sits alongside Sorato Anraku and Taisei Homma of Japan, and Colin Duffy of the USA.
Max Milne also would join the team in the semi-finals as he finished in 25th - the top 26 qualify. Max’s main aim over the winter break was to level up his Lead game and he proved that with a personal best result in Lead at a World Cup. Jack Macdougall's competition ended after the qualification round finishing in 50th position.
Semi-finals:
The semi-finals round today (13 April) saw four GB Climbing athletes take to the wall: Max Milne, Toby Roberts, Erin McNeice and Molly Thompson-Smith. The top eight athletes qualify for tomorrow’s finals.
After being the second athlete to climb, Milne endured an agonising wait for his final position to be revealed, maintaining a top position on the leaderboard throughout. Having significantly improved his standing from the qualification round, Max enters his first ever Lead World Cup finals after finishing in 4th place.
Toby Roberts breezed through the semi-finals route, but a challenging boulder-style move awaited at the top, causing him to come off the wall with a 45+ climb. The only athlete to top the semi-finals was Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret in the women’s competition.
Speaking to the IFSC, Roberts said: “I’ve trained really hard in Lead and Boulder over the winter and it’s the first comp of the season so no one really knows where each other is at. I’m pretty happy with my fourth in Boulder in Keqiao and I’m also pretty happy with how my Lead form is here. I’m psyched to see how the rest of the competition goes.”
Making her second finals appearance in a week, Erin McNeice achieved another personal best in China, finishing seventh in the semi-finals. Molly Thompson-Smith finishes her competition in 15th.
These results are promising for Erin, Molly and Max as they set their sights on the OQS competition next month.
Rachel Carr, GB Climbing coach, said: “For both Erin and Max today was their first ever World Cup Lead Semi final so it’s incredible how they have been able to come out and demonstrate their full strength to earn those spots in finals. It’s a very strong indication of what will be possible for them in OQS and a true credit to what must have been a very hard working off season. For both they just plan to go out and enjoy making it this far, but of course they will both have a medal in their sights.”
Click here to view full results.
The competition resumes tomorrow (Sunday, April 14) for the finals of the Lead competition, starting at 12-noon GMT. Click here to find out how to watch all the action.