Four climbers win 5th Asian C'ships

JAKARTA (JP): Four climbers were deemed to share top position in the fifth Asian Championships as heavy drizzle marred the event at the Pasar Festival, Kuningan, South Jakarta, yesterday.

Japanese Yasue Kato, Song Jung Jun of South Korea, Indonesian Ronald Novar Mamarimbing and Japanese Tomoki Usami finished the finals by reaching the top of 15-meter artificial wall, made of fiber resin polyester.

Bayu Tresna of the Indonesian Climbing Federation told The Jakarta Post that heavy rain forced the jury to reach their verdict by naming the top four climbers as the winners.

The winning position gets US$2,000, first runner-up $1,000, second runner-up $800 and the fourth pockets $500.

"I haven't received any information about the rewards but maybe the four prizes will be added and divided into four equal portions," he said.

South Korean Kim Dong Hyun also reached the top but his result in the semifinals was not as good as the four winners. Indonesian Yudhistira finished sixth by earning 14.10 points.

Meanwhile, Yasue Kato of Japan won the women's competition by earning 12.40 points and took home US$1,500 cash prize. South Korean Go Mi Sun finished second with 12.40 (-) points and pocketed $800. Another Japanese climber Rie Kimura won the third prize of $500 after producing 12.30 (-).

Indonesia's Rima Susanti finished sixth, earning 12.10 (-) points and winning $200.

The two-day championship, which was delayed for one hour due to the rain, was participated in by 51 male and 31 female climbers from 11 countries: China Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. (yan)