Rainy World Cup

Pilz slips past the final in the climbing chaos

Jessica Pilz slipped out of the semi-finals at the rainy start of the Boulder World Cup.

(Bild: AFP)

The men's qualifier was canceled due to heavy rainfall, the women had to make their way to lofty heights on the slippery holds without a belay. For Jessica Pilz, the climbing chaos at the start of the Boulder World Cup in China ended in the semi-finals.

Rain, rain and more rain in Keqiao. This meant that the women had to struggle through the qualification. The men's qualification was finally canceled and postponed to Wednesday. After all, bouldering - unlike lead climbing - involves climbing the wall without ropes and hooks.

Austria's best lady, Jessica Pilz from The Hague, coped well with the conditions, at least in the qualifiers: with three tops and five zones on the five qualifying boulders, the newly crowned national champion showed her strong form at this early stage of the Olympic season - that meant ninth place and a place in the semi-finals. "A solid performance," said the 27-year-old, "I still needed a few more attempts on the first boulders, but I'm satisfied. The start certainly showed me that I can keep up."

However, not quite at the top of the best female boulder climbers in the world: Jessica didn't get a top in the semi-final, there were only two zones in there. In 17th place, she missed out on the final of the top six.