As Jongwon Chon and Yoshiyiki Ogata were disqualified in Speed, thew will not make the Combined Top-6 final. Jakob Schubert, who also was disqualified due to a false start in his second race, can still make the final but then he probably need to be Top-15 in the Boulder semi. Tomoa Narasaki has secured a final position and most probably also Adam Ondra and Jakob Schubert. Kokoro Fujii, Jan Hojer, Mickael Mawem and Kai Harada need a good result opening up for Jernej Kruder or Alexsei Rubtsov if they win in Bouldering. Meichii Narasaki did not make the Boulder semi but with poor results by his opponents, he could still make it to the Combined final. In theory, also Yoshiyuki Ogata could make it if he wins and all others result on his side. For some reason Alex Megos did climb deliberately slow in Speed finishing last although he would have had chances for the Combined final with a fast time in Speed. Now he was overall #12. Provisional Combined results

Exciting Speed finals where Rexa Alipourzena won ahead of Bassa Mawem who neck to neck did miss the last foot hold and came 10 cm short to the buzzer. Replay Among the female Aleksandra Rudzinska won a Polish finale Anna Brozek. Other then that there were quite few false starts and also falls during the earlier rounds. Complete results (c) Vladek Zumr

Jernej Kruder, the Boulder World Cup winner 2018, known for his limited indoor training has taken it one step further. Directly after the Lead qualification he did Waldläufer 8c in Ötztal and two days ago he did Schimpansenbaby low 8B in Zillertal. In the 8a Combined ranking game, Jernej is #8. (c) Vladek Zumr

Chuck Odette has probably set a new standard for 62 year old's by doing Eulogy 8b+ in Maple Canyon, which originally was 8c. (c) Zoltan Papp "I managed a hallelujah send of Eulogy yesterday in warmer then I'd like conditions. I was tired and lethargic during warm ups. On my first attempt I moved too slowly and fell at the end of the crux of Millennium loaded with lactic acid. I waited 2 hours and had given up on red-pointing for the day. I decided to just go all out and let the chips fall where they may and be happy with a possible high point... maybe... I moved quickly through the Millennium portion (1st half of the route) and barely stuck the crux (V7/8). I tried resting at multiple knee-bars before taking on the Don't Mess With Texas crux (V6) which hits you at about 2/3 of the way out the Pipe Dream cave. It's a difficult crux to do when you're pumped senseless. I barely stuck it and had to ad-lib with a wild foot stab to a hold I've never used to stay on and complete this section. I was in total battle mode! I skipped a clip (3rd from last bolt) near the top to keep my upward/outward momentum going and somehow stuck the final dynamic crux... barely... two bolts from the top (the route contains 20+ bolts,.. I skip 4, typically). I knew at this point, I was pretty much done. I had one more big committing move above the last bolt, but hit it precisely due to intense adrenaline rush. Clipped the chains. Done. Sore as hell today, but incredibly happy."

151 male boulderers competed in the qualification out of which only the first 46 were decided based on their world ranking points, which you can only get being Top-30 in a WC during the last 12 months. This means pure luck in the tombola will have an impact on the conditions you will face. Obviously, being the lucky number one in the starting list lottery will mean better friction on the holds and especially in Innsbruck, competing in possibly 20 degrees in the shadow instead of 29 degrees partly in the sun. One solution could be to let everyone having been Top-50 the last year in a World Cup, create a second seeding Group. Further more, the ruling World Champion (Adam Ondra) and Top-10 ranked in Lead should also be placed ahead of the second seeding Group. When it comes to limiting the number of competitors, IFSC could say that a maximum of two athletes are allowed per country beside the guys that qualify having been Top-50 in a World Cup the last year.

The male Boulder qualification got a perfect start at 9.00 where most boulders were topped including five by both Tomoa Narasaki and Jongwon Chon. Jernej Kruder won his group with four tops showing that it is also great to prepare outdoors. As time progressed we saw, especially in Group B, less tops and Alex Megos failed to make it into the semifinal. It should be mentioned that first Schubert was out but later, after an Austrian protest, Vadim Timonov's zone of the second boulder was cancelled. You can watch his attempt on live-streaming 4.23.30. Adam Ondra entered the stage at 13.35 when it was 28 degrees in the shadow, in comparison to 18 degrees at 9.00. The sun had hit part of the walls but anyhow the Czech delivered and was #4 in Group B. During the last hour, very few did get any zones apart from the last boulder which all but three out of the 150 participants did. Domen Skofic was #41 based on doing four zones. Overall, Japan was best with five guys Top-13. Great Britain, Austria, Slovenia and France did get two respectively into the semifinal. Complete results. (c) Vladek Zumr

Isabelle Faus has done Fragile Steps in Rocklands and gives is a personal grade of 8A. Originally it was considered as an 8B and still some do but lately both 8A+ and 8A have been suggested. Isabelle is #2 in the 8a ranking game but with given it 8A+ she would have been #1. (c) Caroline Treadway

Piotr Schab has done his sixth 9a+, No Pain No Gain in Rodellar. In the 8a ranking game, the 22 year old Pole is #2 after Adam Ondra. "Pure brutal endurance.. hard to say If it deserves the whole + in the grade , but for sure it deserves the fatigue! Stunning line, some crazy moves and it’s not that artificial. Respect Dani!"

Becky Wilby has just signed up having done Armed Response 8A+ in Rocklands and five 8A's this summer. The amazing thing is that she started climbing just five years ago but it was nut until three years ago she started going outdoors and training hard. "I have trained 6 days a week, twice a day for the past 3 years, only really taking breaks for holidays, injuries or rest weeks. Generally doing an hour of strength training in the morning before work, and then mixing up the evening sessions with technique, mileage and board sessions, depending on how I felt. Weekends have looked similar. I have climbed outside as much as possible, I am fortunate to have some good local crags that I have used as training venues. My focus has always been on total body strength, and learning to use my whole body, and apparently I have naturally strong fingers!! To be honest I have never struggled with getting strong. I am very fortunate that I have had a home board and fingerboard set up, along with space to use TRX, rings, weights etc. I basically created my own gym in my parents garden Shed. Mainly because I didn’t want to train at the wall, as silly as it seems, I actually train a lot better and push myself a lot harder in the comfort of my own space."

The female boulder qualification got a good start with Janja Garnbret topping out all five boulders in good style. As the competition progressed with less experienced climbers it was only the last boulder that was doable and the #4 ranked did only manage one top in group A. In the end, with the sun hitting the walls, we saw only zones on two boulders out of one placed sticking the first move. In the second group it was a bit better with Akiyo Noguchi on top with four boulders. However, also here it was good enough to make it to the semi by just doing one boulder. Austria did get four girls trough to the semi and had seven Top-23. Overall, only 37 % out of all the girls did get at least three zones. Alejandra Contreras was #41, out of 112, by doing two zones in four tries. A total of 15 girls did not get one zone. Complete results (c) Udo Nemann