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The World Cup is in Japan! The second stage of the season will take place in Kazo, right to the North of Tokyo, starting this Saturday.



UPDATE: The qualifiers will be streamed live! Here ‘s the link: https://youtu.be/_xaopll9N94

With barely enough time to recover from Meiringen, most of the teams present in Switzerland took a plane and are now in Japan, fighting the jet lag and getting ready for Kazo.

Competition climbing is huge in Japan and we can expect a big event. And with climbing having the chance of taking part in the Olympic Games of Tokio 2020, I’m sure the organizers will prepare a great show.

While most teams have shrunk due to the inconvenience and expenses involved, the Japanese team has grown enormously and has over 40 athletes in the starting list. I wouldn’t be surprised if the semifinals were packed with Japanese climbers.

New countries will be present, like China and Australia (with James Kassay as flagship).

3 finalists from Meiringen won’t take part in the comp: Jakob Schubert, Megan Mascarenas and Janja Garnbret.

You can check the starting list here.

Route setters

Chris Danielson will be chief route setter; he will be assisted by Matthias Woitzuck and Hiroshi Okano.

More info