19.11.2012
Today, November 18, 2012, the Zlato polje sports hall turned into a hall full of enthusiastic fans, as the world's best sport climbers competed for the final decisions in the World Cup in sport climbing under the auspices of the International Federation of Sport Climbing IFSC. In the final of the World Cup in lead here in Kranj, Mina Markovič won, and her success was complemented by Maja Vidmar with third place. Mina also achieved a double victory in the WC overall standings – in lead and combined. Dreamlike for Slovenia!
Yesterday's qualifications featured 36 women and 48 men, the evening semifinals had the top 26 best sport climbers, and today's FINAL saw 8 top climbers from each gender advance from the semifinals.
The competition was tense and excellently prepared, and all finalists demonstrated all their abilities and excellent preparation. The atmosphere in the Zlato polje hall carried the competitors even higher. And three competitors finished on the same move - today's best. The semifinal result decided. The world's best sport climber Mina Markovič won, Japanese Momoka Oda took second place, and third went to another excellent Slovenian sport climber Maja Vidmar, who has qualified for the Kranj World Cup final every time since 2002, winning in 2006 and 2007. Mina Markovič has already won the World Cup lead in Kranj, specifically in 2009, and was second here last year.
Mina Markovič defended her overall World Cup victories in lead and combined from 2011, and with her win in today's final World Cup lead competition, she also became the WINNER in the overall WC lead standings 2012, where she had led since the first WC event of the year.
Even before today's competition, it was clear that Mina was also the winner in the overall World Cup COMBINED standings, which counts the five best results from two out of three disciplines (lead, bouldering, speed).
Slovenian placements in today's WC FINAL:
The Slovenian team at the final World Cup event in Kranj, besides Mina and Maja, also included Tina Šušteršič, and newcomers to World Cup events Anja Šerbinek and Tjaša Kalan; in the men's competition, current junior world silver medalist and current junior European champion Domen Škofic, Urban Primožič, Klemen Bečan, Jure Bečan, Jure Raztresen, Sergej Epih, Izidor Zupan, and newcomer to World Cup events Martin Bergant. From qualifications, 7 Slovenian representatives advanced to semifinals: Urban Primožič (1st in qualifications), Klemen Bečan (14th in qualifications), Jure Bečan (16th in qualifications), and Domen Škofic as 18th in qualifications; and in women's, our best Mina Markovič and Maja Vidmar with 1st place in qualifications (both climbed the qualification routes to the top) and Tina Šušteršič as 21st. The other competitors ended in qualifications. To reach the final, they had to climb the demanding semifinal route, both in women's and men's. Our climbers Mina and Maja climbed the semifinal route confidently, though not to the top, securing the final. Tina Šušteršič stayed in semifinals with 22nd place. Among the guys, Urban Primožič was just short of the final, finishing 9th just behind the top 8. Klemen Bečan finished 14th, Domen Škofic 18th, and Jure Bečan 20th.
STATEMENTS:
Head coach of the Slovenian senior sport climbing team Simon Margon assessed today's competition and the entire season as follows: "This is a dreamlike conclusion to a very good and successful, but also long season. I think the whole team is quite tired, but with this conclusion, double podiums and double overall victory, the effort of the entire season is more than rewarded."
Mina Markovič, 24-year-old from Ptuj, member of Climbing Club PK 6b Ptuj, who will celebrate her 25th birthday this Friday, is today's winner and for the second time in a row the overall World Cup 2012 winner in lead and combined. After the competition, she said: "This is truly a dreamlike conclusion and outcome of today's competition and overall in lead and combined in this year's World Cup for me. Hard to add anything :). I'm very happy and satisfied with the achievement, happy that I managed to win the overall WC standings in lead and combined for the second time in a row, which hasn't happened to any competitor for a long time. Which victory means more to me? Hard to compare achievements. But the feeling is really good. The final route was quite demanding, maybe I was a bit nervous at the start.
In bouldering, I also succeeded this year, although I finished just off the podium in 4th in the overall standings. I think the injury at the last event in Munich might have cost me the podium in the overall World Cup bouldering standings.
Otherwise, the season was tough, but all the effort paid off, the double overall WC victory is the reward and the icing on the cake of the entire season."
And goals ahead? "I want to remain dedicated to climbing and continue climbing with such enjoyment."
BEST in the 2012 World Cup in COMBINED – OVERALL! Today's winner MINA MARKOVIČ, second Korean Jain Kim, and third Japanese Akiyo Noguchi. Mina dreamily concluded the 2012 World Cup – with a win at the last WC event and for the second time in a row with a double victory in the overall World Cup standings in lead and in the overall combined standings 2012. Photo Zdenka Mihelič
RESULTS final World Cup lead, Kranj 2012:
women total 36 competitors
1. Mina MARKOVIČ, SLO
2. Momoka ODA, JAP
3. Maja VIDMAR, SLO
...
22. Tina Šušteršič, SLO
29. Tjaša Kalan, SLO
36. Anja Šerbinek, SLO
Men: total 48 competitors
1. Jakob SCHUBERT, AVT
2. Sachi AMMA, JAP
3. Magnus MIDTBOE, NOR
...
9. Urban Primožič, SLO
14. Klemen Bečan, SLO
18. Domen Škofic, SLO
20. Jure Bečan, SLO
32. Izidor ZUPAN, SLO
33. Sergej EPIH, SLO
35. Martin BERGANT, SLO
37. Jure RAZTRESEN, SLO
Total participants in the final World Cup sport climbing lead, Kranj 2012: 80 competitors from 20 countries around the world.
OVERALL STANDINGS (Source: IFSC)
Lead
women
1. Mina MARKOVIČ, SLO, 675.00 points
2. Jain KIM, KOR, 617.00
3. ERNST Johanna, AVT, 522.00
men
1. Sachi AMMA, JAP, 600.00
2. Ramón JULIAN PUIGBLANQUE, ŠPA, 568.00
3. Jakob SCHUBERT, AVT, 538.00
Combined
women
1. MinaMARKOVIČ, SLO, 764.00
2. Jain KIM, KOR, 631.00
3. Akiyo NOGUCHI, JAP, 590.00
men
1. Jakob SCHUBERT, AVT, 737.00
2. Sean MCCOLL, KAN, 681.00
3. Sachi AMMA, JAP, 499.00
The competition was broadcast LIVE during the event via IFSC TV web, and the final on Sunday, November 18, also via Slovenian TV Slovenija, 2nd channel.
Sport climbing is becoming a very popular sport both in Slovenia and worldwide, so it's no wonder that sport climbing has entered the shortlist of sports vying for inclusion in the Olympic sports at the 2020 Olympic Games.
