KEQIAO, China, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Sorato Anraku and 17-year-old American Annie Sanders clinched the men's and women's boulder titles respectively at the opener of the 2025 IFSC Climbing World Cup here on Sunday.

The men's final saw a highly anticipated clash between Lee Dohyun of South Korea and Anraku, who was the heavy favorite at last year's Paris Olympics but narrowly missed out on gold. This time, the 18-year-old Japanese climber kept his nerve to top all four boulder problems and win with 99.7 points, edging Lee by just 0.4.

"I'm really happy," said Anraku. "The routes were tough, but I managed to top all four, and that made me feel like I've grown,"said Anraku.

"I was nervous watching the others do so well, but once I got on the wall, I focused on enjoying every climb," the Japanese added.

Following his Olympic disappointment, Anraku said he had spent the off-season training to address his weaknesses. "There were a lot of things I couldn't do last year. But today, I overcame many of them. My goal now is to win gold at the World Championships in September."

Lee, who had also topped all four problems but needed more attempts, settled for silver with 99.3 points. Japan's Meichi Narasaki took bronze.

The boulder discipline adopted a new scoring system this season, awarding 25 points for a top, 10 for reaching the zone, and deducting 0.1 for each failed attempt.

In the women's final, Slovenia's two-time Olympic champion Janja Garnbret was absent, leaving room for fresh faces. Sanders seized the opportunity to take her second career World Cup gold, ahead of France's Oriane Bertone and Britain's Erin Mcneice.

"I definitely wasn't expecting it," Sanders said. "After the first boulder I was frustrated, and the second didn't go well either. But the third lightened my mood, and on the fourth I just gave it everything to get to the zone."

Promising signs emerged for the host nation with several climbers notching personal bests at the World Cup. China's Fu Jiahao, 24, and Xu Ziqi, 19, both made the men's semifinals, finishing 23rd and 14th respectively -- career-best World Cup results.

"This was only my second World Cup and I really enjoyed it," Xu said. "There's still a lot to improve, but compared to before, I don't feel lost out there anymore."

Fu called it "the hardest day" of his professional career. "If I had held back even once, I wouldn't have made semis. It's something I've always wanted, and when it actually happened, it felt like a dream."

Both Xu and Fu made their World Cup debuts at the same venue in Keqiao last year, with previous best finishes of 46th and 51st respectively.

On the women's side, China's Zhang Yuetong placed 11th - her highest finish yet in a World Cup boulder event. "I haven't been in a boulder semi-final in a long time," the 22-year-old Olympian said. "I still lack experience, but I really want to break through in this discipline." Enditem