Japanese boulderer Akiyo Noguchi clinched second place overall in the IFSC Boulder World Cup 2012, with a narrow victory in Munich’s Olympiastadion. Her victory lifted her above the injured Shauna Coxsey, who finished the World Cup in third place.

Rustam Gelmanov’s fourth place was enough to win him the overall men’s World Cup title after his rival Kilian Fischhuber failed to make the semi-finals. The winner in Munich was another Russian, current world champion Dmitrii Sharafutdinov. Britain’s Stewart Watson was sixth, capping a strong showing from Team GB throughout the weekend.

Gelmanov’s title was in the bag by the end of the first day’s competition, as the veteran Austrian and one of the discipline’s finest ever exponents, failed to get out of his qualifying group. Fischhuber was pushed out of 20th place, and consequently out of the semis, by Team GB's very own Adam Watson.

Sean McColl of Canada finished in second place behind Sharafutdinov, earning him fifth place in the World Cup rankings, while the Austrian Jakob Schubert, who had a remote chance of winning the World Cup, finished third, securing him third place in the final table.

Even before Munich, Anna Stöhr had clinched her third World Cup title, to join those she won in 2008 and 2011. But in the final round she had to settle for second place in front of a Bavarian crowd of 8,000, as an inspired performance from her Japanese rival Akiyo Noguchi pushed the Austrian into second place.

Noguchi’s win also pushed Britain’s Shauna Coxsey into third in the overall rankings. Coxsey, who was in Munich supporting Team GB, said: “Third place overall is more than I could ever have imagined at the beginning of the year. I am not disappointed in the slightest. Anna and Akiyo are amazing athletes and both a massive inspiration to me. I am really looking forward to joining them again next year.”

Team GB’s Mina Leslie-Wujastyk and Katy Whittaker qualified in fine style for the women’s semi-finals  but missed out on the final, finishing 15th and 19th respectively. Three British men also made it through to the second day, with Adam Watson and Ned Feehally joining Stew Watson in the semis, with Watson going on to the final six.
 

The Senior British Bouldering Team is supported by Sherpa Adventure Gear and Lonsdale China.

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