From 6th-10th January Kalinga stadium in Bhubneshwar hosted 25th National Sports Climbing Championship where East Zone lifted the overall trophy for the first time in an Indian climbing competition history of 25 years. East Zone scored a total of 34 points out of which Tata Steel Adventure Foundation climbers scored 31 points. They earned 7 gold, 3 Silver and 4 bronze.
Inspire Crew in conversation with one of the competition Judge Rohit Solanki to know more about competition, participants and management.
Talking about performance Solanki said, in the manner of climbing if we compare this year nationals from last year nationals, then I definitely say that the competition level has increased and because of that, performance level has also increased. This year, we followed the international standard and we got to see the unexpected performance by some athletes and their skills especially sub-junior boys, junior boys, and girls. They just performed out of our expectations.
In the manner of Route-setting:
Because of the international standard of route setting system, all of the participants have gained exposure at different levels. I think route setters made the perfect choice of using the best holds to set up the wall for each category.
In the manner of judging:
We have followed the IFSC competition format this year. All the climbers got to know about their national ranking on the basis of different levels of competitions we organized throughout the year. On the other side, there were numbers of judges for each category of competition i.e. Lead, speed, and bouldering. But talking about judging criteria, he added, I won't lie, it was a task for us and at some point, we also got confused in making decisions because of the certain rules we had to follow. But overall it was a success at the end. We all had something to learn.
Enter-prises, the world's leading manufacturer of climbing wall and holds were involved in the competition and it is very encouraging when an international entity make themselves part of national festivals. Because the international level of walls and holds matter and it is our combined responsibility to make all the participants avail that opportunity. It not just help them to gain experience but also boost their level of confidence when they perform on an international platform.
The Indian hockey team also made their presence to encourage our participants. This also gives a chance to understand each other's world which I would say is important.
"In our climbing time we used to play physically but now a days athletes train themselves mentally also."
Rohit also said the biggest challenge is to organize a competition on IFSC certified walls and setting world-class level routes for participants. The geometrical shapes of the climbing wall were a challenge for participants. I hope this experience may help them in the future.
There is only one IFSC certified wall in India for all the three disciplines which are in Kalinga Stadium.
“ Anisha verma and Aman verma who are siblings performed out of everyone's expectation. They both earned 3 gold medals in 3 disciplines. Anisha Verma also broke past records of speed climbing and registered new by 10.41 seconds.”
Watch the complete list of winners HERE
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