(Nagoya = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Myeong-eon = Lee Do-hyun, the representative of Korean sport climbing, showed his fierce determination and won a valuable silver medal even after receiving 0 points in the first task.
Lee Do-hyun took second place with a final score of 49.7 points in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Sports Climbing Men's Bouldering Final held at Portmesse Nagoya Exhibition Hall 1 in Nagoya, Japan on the 30th.
As a result, Lee Do-hyun won silver medals in two consecutive competitions, following the combined silver medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Games.
However, like the previous competition, this time he was disappointed that he could not overcome the barrier of Japan's 'rival' Anraku Sorato. Anraku scored 74.5 points that day.
Lee Do-hyun, who came last out of the eight finalists, faced an unexpected crisis from the first game.
In task 1, I failed to reach any score range (zone) and scored 0, so my steps were greatly disrupted from the start.
But it didn't shake. Lee Do-hyun fell only once in the second task and then succeeded in climbing the mountain immediately, receiving a score of 24.9.
In the third task, he succeeded after only falling twice, adding 24.8 points. Anraku and Lee Do-hyeon were the only ones who solved the third task.
In the final task, No. 4, a thrilling match was produced.
Anraku, who climbed earlier, failed to even reach the zone and only scored 0 points, giving Lee Do-hyun a chance to make a dramatic comeback.
However, Lee Do-hyun also failed to overcome the final hurdle and was unfortunately unable to turn the match around.
As we had our sights set on the gold medal, this is a disappointing result.
Lee Do-hyun, the silver medalist in the 'combined' event that combines lead and bouldering scores at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, aimed for golden glory in bouldering, which has been separated into a single event from this competition.
Compared to the skills shown before the finals, the score of 0 in task 1 was even more painful.
Lee Do-hyun received 99.7 points in the semifinals held at the same venue the previous day and advanced to the finals as first overall among the 15 participating players.
He completed all four tasks given at the time, and in particular, for tasks 2 and 4, he showed off his peak condition by recording a 'flash' performance (completed on the first attempt) of reaching the target point in just one attempt. It was 0.4 points behind Anraku in second place.
Lee Do-hyun, who proved his potential with a dramatic silver medal, will regain his honor in the upcoming lead game and challenge for his first gold medal in the competition.
Jong-won Cheon (Daegu City Sports Council, North Face), who became the first gold medalist in the men's sports climbing category at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, finished the competition in 5th place with 30 points.
