Unfamiliarity costs Verosil

PALEMBANG — Apparently grappling to cope with an unfamiliar field, sports climber Gerald Verosil found the going rough and bowed out of the men’s speed event after finishing 18th in the eliminations at the Jakabaring Sports City here on Thursday.

The Singapore-based Verosil lost his grip early in scaling up the 12-meter (37-foot), man-made wall to clock 10.66 seconds on his first try before improving slightly with 7.95 seconds on his second attempt.

The improved time, however, was not enough for him to make the cut of 16 qualifiers into the knockout round.