The Israel Climbing Climbing Championship took place yesterday and today (Thursday and Friday) at the I-CLIMB wall in Haifa. He won the title of champion of Israel for men Nimrod Marcuswhen the head of the women’s podium was picked Ayala Kerem. He finished in the Paralympic category Mor Sapir in first place for men, Naama Straussman Finished first for women.
Yesterday the qualifying rounds were held, when 20 men qualified for the semi-final stage held this morning, of which 8 went on to the final. The semi-final stage was extremely challenging, with none of the first 19 contestants making it to the top. The last climber to go up the route was Marcus, who finished first yesterday in the mokamedot stage, and is the only one who managed to reach the last hold. Geva Levin took second place and Alex Hazanov finished third. Nevo Alon, Adi Barak, Michael Bulgov, Yotam Ben Reuven and Alon Peleg-Lieblich also qualified for the finals. The final stage was also extremely difficult and at the end of it no contestant was able to reach the top. Geva Levin finished in third place, Alex Hazanov finished second and Nimrod Marcus, who was the best in all stages of the competition, was crowned the champion of Israel for 2022.
The new Israeli champion concluded: “These were two long days. This was one of the most mentally difficult competitions I had to prepare for because it had a lot of weight in terms of who is going to fly this year to compete abroad. I did a lot of mental preparation and I’m really proud of myself. I feel that I have made a leap forward for me.’
For the women, the preliminary stage held yesterday had fewer contestants, so the qualification was automatic for the final stage. Israel’s champion from last year, Kerem, finished first, followed immediately by Naa Sheeran and Valerie Kramer. The final image was completed by Ruby Danziger, Naama Yohai, Maya Dreamer, Bar Schnir and Ada Carlsbron. In the final itself, Ayala Kerem excelled once more, and although she was unable to achieve a top, she was crowned the Israeli champion for the second time in a row. Noa Sheeran was crowned as the runner-up Valerie Kramer finished in third place.
Ayala Kerem concluded: “I was disappointed that I was not able to reach the top.” All I thought about was finishing the track, I was close but I didn’t make it and it left a bitter taste. At that moment I didn’t care that I won the competition, I only cared that the track beat me.’ The climber added – “Every year the level rises in Israel, both in terms of the competitors and in terms of the routes, and I really like this challenge”.
In the Men’s Paralympic category, as expected, the 2021 World Champion, Mor Sapir, finished in first place. Immediately after him came Yaniv Aga and with the bronze medal finished Shaf Ben Porat. Naama Straussman was crowned Israel’s women’s champion, Viola Yamit Gutman finished second and third place went to Moushka Cohen.