Anraku and Mori win in China

Team Japan set a new standard winning five medals in the Lead World Cup in Wujiang, China. Sorato Anraku and Ai Mori were dominant winners and there were five males and four females from Japan in the Top-6. Among the women, Jessica Pilz was #2 and the Austrian also won overall. The runner-up among the men was Shion Omata. Bronze medalists were Natsuki Tanii and Taisei Homma. © Dimitris Tosidis/IFSC

Anraku, 16, who had secured the overall victory prior to Wujiang, comments on his third Lead WC win in a row;
“I’m just happy to win another medal here in Wujiang. I’m frustrated not to top the route though. I have the Asian Games next week so I will try there. I love climbing and I don’t want to stop. I’m going to carry on forever.” Complete results

Mori, who won the gold at the World Championship in August, comments on her victory;
“Before climbing I was very nervous, but now I’ve won I’m very happy. I feel a lot of pressure, mostly that I put on myself, I just don’t feel confident. But if I don’t have confidence in myself I can’t win, so I have to tell myself a lot I can do it.” Complete results

It should be mentioned that many of the best climbers from USA and Europe did not participate.