GENEVA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese sport climbing team pocketed five out of six medals in the speed events at the IFSC Climbing World Cup stop in Villars, Switzerland on Friday.
China's Long Jianguo, Wu Peng and Long Jinbao swept the men's event, while on women's part, Deng Lijuan and Niu Di finished one-two with the bronze went to Indonesian speed climber Desak Rita.
Debuting at an IFSC World Cup, Long Jianguo won the men's speed gold with a time of 5.23 seconds, beating his teammate Wu Peng who finished in 5.24 seconds in the finals.
"I feel very excited and I didn't expect this. It's my first time competing in a World Cup so I feel pretty good," said Long Jianguo.
The small final saw Long Jinbao tap the finish pad in 5.16 seconds while his competitor on the other line, Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo, fell from the wall.
Also in the men's event, Indonesia's Kiromal Katibin rewrote the world record with a result of 5.04 seconds in the qualification. However, he only ranked fifth in the finals.
In the women's speed final, China's Deng Lijuan stopped the clock at 6.87 seconds, overwhelming her teammate Niu Di (8.22 seconds) on the other line.
"I'm very happy. I want to say a lot of thanks to my country for giving us such strong support during the pandemic. After two years we have finally come back to the stage," said Deng.
Although slipped in the final and finished a distant silver medalist, Niu set the new Asian record with 6.91 seconds earlier in the qualification.
Indonesia's Rita won the women's small final in 7.06 seconds, beating Poland speed climber Anna Brozek in 7.39 seconds.
The next stop of IFSC Climbing World Cup will be held in Chamonix, France from July 8 to July 10, including Lead and Speed events. ■
