Seo Chae-hyun takes silver in boulder and lead after canceled final

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Published: 07 Oct. 2023, 21:49 Updated: 07 Oct. 2023, 22:04

Seo Chae-hyun takes silver in boulder and lead after canceled final

Korea's Seo Chae-hyun hits the wall during the women's bouldering contest during the semifinal round on Friday at the Hangzhou Asian Games. [YONHAP]

Korean sport climber Seo Chae-hyun took silver in the women’s bouldering and lead combined event at the Hangzhou Asian Games on a technicality on Saturday after the final was canceled due to rain in Shaoxing, China — where the outdoor contest was set to take place.

The final rankings were instead determined based on the semifinal results. Japan’s Ai Mori took gold and China’s Zhang Yuetong ended with bronze.

Seo scored 99.73 points in the bouldering semifinal, tying Mori and Zhang. Seo, 19, and Mori, 20, became the only climbers to reach the top of the lead course, each winning 100 points.

Korea's Sa Sol also scored a spot in the boulder and lead final but finished the semifinal in fifth.

The bouldering and lead event combines two distinct climbing disciplines, bouldering — where athletes attempt to climb four short but technically fiendish courses — and lead — where height climbed is all that matters.

Seo and Mori finished the combined semifinal round in a deadlock with 199.73 points each. But Seo only completed one successful climb in bouldering for the full 25 points while Mori completed two, meaning that even though they still managed the same number of points in total, Mori took first place on a technicality.

Seo, ranked fourth globally in women's lead climbing was denied a chance to edge out Mori, who currently holds the number one lead spot, in the rained-out finals.

Seo’s semifinal-determined silver followed teammate Lee Do-hyun’s podium finish, also a silver medal, in the men’s bouldering and lead combined event on Friday. Lee edged out China’s Pan Yufei but came behind Sorato Anraku in the men’s final.

Korea earlier earned two bronze medals in the men’s and women’s sport climbing speed relay on Wednesday.

Speed is an entirely separate discipline, and it’s all about how fast you reach the top, not the complexity of the wall or the height involved.

Korea ended its Asian Games climbing schedule with four medals — two silver and two bronze — after the women’s boulder and lead final was rained out.

Other key gold-medal competitions for Korea at the Games on Saturday — including baseball, men’s football and women’s hockey — were all a go outdoors despite the inclement weather.

BY MARY YANG AND JIM BULLEY [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]