It was one of this year's novelties, in many ways a soft start to the Rock Master, but the stakes were high: 5 tickets to compete alongside the Rock Master champions. A qualification which is in many respects already a prize in its own right. And unsurprisingly the athletes came from afar as Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador and – for the first time ever – even from Israel to win this special ticket to Saturday's competition.
Fotostrecke: Rock Master 2012 International Lead Open
Fotos: © Giulio Malfer
And so the 14 male athletes and 8 female athletes certainly gave it their very best. Some were somewhat nervous and excited. But, even if they were, Slovenia's 20-year-old Urban Primozic (20th in the World Ranking) and his more famous, 30-year-old teammate Klemen Becan (14th in the World Ranking and at his 3rd Rock Master appearance) certainly didn't let the excitement get the better of them. Both qualified with a perfect run by flashing both routes.
In the women's event a trio topped out on the final hold: the mere 19-year-old Russian Dinara Fakhritdinova, her 25-year-old teammate Evgenia Malamid (20th and 22rn respectively in the current World Ranking) and the strong and famous 25-year-old Frenchwoman Alizée Dufraisse, 19th in the World Ranking and 6th here in Arco in 2010. It's worth noting that in 2003 Alizée placed 3rd in the Rock Master Boulder, and all those who passed with flying colours today can look forward to Saturday's competition with joy.
22-year old Silvio Reffo from Italy will certainly have his say in the matter as he placed 3rd with one top on route 1 and a near miss on route 2, after falling two holds short of the chain. The other great novelties are Tomas Ravanal from Chile and Reinaldo Camacho from Venezuela, 4th and 5th respectively in this Open round. Both sent route 1 and while Ravanal fell one hold lower than Reffo, Camacho fell one hold lower still.
The list of those who qualified for the women's Rock Master Lead is completed by Ecuador's Carolina Rosero and Israel's Valery Kremer, two great little surprises that proved to be on great form and who now make the Rock Master even more international than before. All that is left to do now is wait for Saturday, when these 5 + 5 Open winners return to the Climbing Stadium for the first day of Rock Master, together with the best in the world ranking… And then the battle will begin in earnest!
Results Rock Master International Open
Female results
1 Evgenia Malamid RUS
1 Dinara Fakhritdinova RUS
1 Alizée Dufraisse FRA
4 Carolina Rosero ECU
5 Valery Kremer ISR
6 Andrea Rojas ECU
7 Sara Avoscan ITA
8 Sofia Correa ECU
Male results
1 Urban Primozic SLO
1 Klemen Becan SLO
3 Silvio Reffo ITA
4 Tomas Ravanal CHI
5 Reinaldo Camacho VEN
6 Jure Becan SLO
7 Mauricio Huerta MEX
8 Francesco Vettorata ITA
9 Santiago De Alba Flores MEX
10 Lorenzo Carasio ITA
11 Claudio Arigoni ITA
12 Andres Quinteros ECU
13 Isaac Estevez ECU
14 Dimitrios Sparis GRE
Rock Master Lead – invited athletes
Men
Mikhail Chernikov RUS
Mario Lechner AUT
Adam Ondra CZE
Ramon Julien Puigbanque ESP
Jakob Schubert AUT
Jorg Verhoeven NED
Women
Barbara Bacher AUT
Sasha DiGiulian USA
Angela Eiter AUT
Johanna Schranz AUT
Jenny Lavarda ITA
The Arco Rock Master Festival (from 25 August – 2 September) will continue with the Arco Rock Legends award's ceremony, the IFSC Speed World Cup and on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 September the great Rock Master Lead and Boulder events.
Info, results and gallery on www.rockmasterfestival.com
