5 of our youth climbers  - Cliff, Rudi, Hazlee, Marliah and Andrea - were selected to represent Singapore in the 3rd Asian Youth Championships, held  in Iran from 25th to 27th July 2001. The competition was held in the city of Zanjan, a few hours’ drive to the northwest of Tehran. 

Here, in the Engeleb Sports Complex, the Iranians had built an 18-metre wall with a sustained incline starting 3 metres above the floor. The wall was similar to the Pyramide system in its structure and texture. This formed the difficulty wall. On both sides were the less inclined but still sloping speed routes. These proved rather treacherous as while one was expected to zoom up the wall, one bad slip off and you’re out of the competition. The same would result if you fail to hit the square tile at the top, which stops the electronic timer.

The various age categories were Youth B – 14-15 years, Youth A – 16-17 years and Junior – 18-19 years. The routesetter was Kenji Iiyama from Japan. Our qualified judges played a key role – Anthony Seah was the Chief Judge and Joanne Soo was appointed the Category Judge. Observing local Islamic regulations, the females donned headscarves and long coats in the presence of males. The girls’ competitions were held separately from the boys’, in the absence of males. 

Our climbers were pitted against others from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and of course Iran. The Japanese and Koreans were the favourites as usual, and they did not disappoint, taking top positions in a few categories. The Iranians, being on home ground, also showed their mettle, climbing strongly in their events. 
Marliah was the only competitor in her age group, and despite a guaranteed gold medal, gave her all in her events. Andrea sped up the wall in the speed event to clinch first place.

Iranians are a warm and friendly people, and lent their boisterous support to all foreign climbers as well, with their whistling and cheers. Our climbers made many friends and are already looking forward to the next championships to meet up again.