PALEMBANG -- Sport climbing made its official Asian Games debut on Thursday at the Jakabaring Sports Center in Palembang, Indonesia.
Athletes from all over the continent gathered for the inaugural event as well as supporters, fans, and international media members who came to witness the birth of the sport.
Seventeen-year-old Gerald Verosil, the Philippines' only representative in sport climbing, was humbled and proud to wear the country's colors in the big event.
"In these Asian Games, of course the best of the best will compete against each other so for me to be here is already an honor," said Verosil. "And to be the lone representative of the sport that I really love is a huge, huge honor."
"I was really excited for this opportunity. Not everyone can come and compete in these Asian Games," he added.
Verosil was unfazed against his older combatants but considerably fell short in the speed climbing qualifications. His had a forgetful first run, clocking in at 10.66 seconds but bounced back with a 7.95 finish in his second.
It took him less than eight seconds to climb the 15-meter wall, but in a discipline where speed is measured to the millisecond, his best time of 7.95 seconds wasn't good enough to enter the finals. Only the top 16 climbers were qualified and 16th place climber Chingkheinganba Maibam of India had a better time with 7.53 seconds. The best climber after the qualification round was China's Qixin Zhong who clocked in an astonishing 5.82 seconds.
"I'm not sure if I performed to my best but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. Having climbed here and climbed in front of countries, and everyone, is an indescribable feeling," said Verosil, who had his father Patric watching in the stands.
Verosil participated in the day's other event, men's combined speed qualification. In combined competition, scores from the three disciplines of sport climbing: speed climbing, bouldering, and lead climbing will be tabulated. Verosil ended up in 18th place after the speed qualification round with times of 8.39 seconds in the first run and 9.36 seconds in run number two.
"His performance so far is a really good performance for Gerald," mentioned coach Jason Sauco. "It's been challenging especially with the lineup that we saw. We have like the top of the southeast Asia who's here. Some are actually World Cup athletes. Regarding his ranking today, Gerald did well."
Verosil still has a chance to make up for his speed qualifiers as bouldering will be the next in line for the combined competition. Bouldering, a form of rock climbing wherein participants must go through four to five boulder problems, is Verosil's forte.
"Speed is not my main discipline and I like bouldering so I would consider myself a boulder," he shared, having won gold in bouldering at the Asian Cup Championship held in Hong Kong last March. "I'm really excited for it."
Even as Verosil continues to compete in their first Asian Games, he and his coach are excited with the idea of having the sport in their own backyard at the 2019 SEA Games in Manila. The Sports Climbing Association of the Philippines Inc. (SCAPI), hopes to discuss with SEA Games organizers as well as the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee on the possibility of holding the sport in Manila next year.
"Actually this is a good start. Especially if you saw the crowd earlier, there were really a lot. The sport is getting popular," shared Sauco. "And I hope next year, we're hosting the SEA Games, hopefully they can include climbing. [They're] still negotiating about it. We'll see."