Anraku Edges Out Lee to Claim His First Prague Boulder Victory

As the sun set over Štvanice, the atmosphere turned into a true sporting drama. The route setters showed no mercy to the eight finalists, creating extremely demanding boulders. Only three climbers managed to top a problem — and each of them did so only once.

Defending champion Mejdi Schalck was the first to succeed, topping the opening boulder, but only managed zones on the remaining problems. After topping the third boulder, Prague champion from 2023 and 2024 Dohyun Lee moved into the lead, but even that ultimately was not enough for victory.

Sorato Anraku solved the same problem and needed fewer attempts on the remaining boulders, which proved decisive in an incredibly close battle for gold. When he secured the zone on the final boulder on his very first try, he moved ahead by a razor-thin margin of 0.2 points to seal the win.

After finishing seventh in 2023, fourth in 2024 and taking silver last year, the Japanese climber finally claimed his long-awaited Prague triumph. He may also build on this success in Sunday’s lead competition, where he will once again be among the top favorites.

Lee finished second, while Schalck had to settle for third place this time.

The women’s boulder semifinal is scheduled for tomorrow at 12:00.

Final results: HERE.