CHENGDU, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi of Indonesia claimed the women's speed gold with a new Asian record at the World Climbing Asia Championship in Meishan Thursday, while Chu Shouhong secured the men's gold in an all-Chinese final.
Just 15 minutes after setting a new Asian record of 6.15 seconds in the semifinal, Desak Rita improved her time to 6.07 seconds in the final to take gold. China's Zhou Yafei settled for silver in 6.47 seconds.
The previous Asian record of 6.18 seconds was set by China's Deng Lijuan at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
"I'm very happy," said Desak Rita, who has set her sights on the upcoming Asian Games. "Of course I want to get gold medal for Indonesia."
In the men's speed event, Chu edged former world record holder Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia to advance to the final, while Zhou Ziyu beat teammate Ling Yongzhi, who slipped mid-climb, in the other semifinal. Chu maintained his momentum to take gold in the final, while Zhou claimed silver in his senior international debut.
"I'm super happy right now," Chu told national media after his victory. "My form hadn't been ideal. For the first two months of winter training, I couldn't climb anywhere near my previous level, and I felt quite anxious."
After talking to a psychologist, he learned to let go. "The teacher told me not to overthink it - just train as usual. That helped me loosen up a bit."
"My whole body was soft, like I had no strength. That feeling carried into the evening finals a little bit," Chu admitted that his form was still far from perfect even on competition day. But everything changed after his semifinal clash with Leonardo.
"After that semifinal, I completely let go. I gave it my all, focused on every detail of my movement, and tried not to think about anything else," he added.
Zhou, 20, a bronze medalist at the 2024 IFSC Youth World Championships, said he was thrilled with his performance.
"I never expected to stand on the podium in my first senior international competition," he said. "I pushed myself very seriously this winter without slacking off, especially in the middle-to-late stages of climbing, which have become much smoother."
China's Qin Yumei bounced back from a fall in the semifinal to beat teammate Meng Shixue for the women's bronze, while Leonardo took bronze in the men's event.
In the men's boulder semifinal, South Korea's Lee Do-hyun completed the first three routes and reached the scoring zone on the fourth to lead with 84.4 points. China's Hu Junzhe and Pan Yufei finished second and third, respectively, to advance to Friday's final.
In the women's boulder semifinal, Futaba Ito was the only climber to top three routes, advancing alongside five other Japanese climbers. China's Zhang Yuetong and Luo Zhilu finished sixth and eighth, respectively, and both reached the final.
Serving as the final qualification event for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the Asia Championship runs April 8-12, with a total of 71 quotas up for grabs in the men's and women's boulder, lead and speed events. ■
