The Asian Kids Sport Climbing Championship 2022, organised by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Asia, in association with the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) and Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF), will take place at JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, from December 8 to 11.

“Athletes from 10 Asian countries namely South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, China and India will be a part of this mega event. Technical delegates and officials from Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia have already reached the arena. Route setting for the bouldering and lead events has already started. The climbing arena is all geared up to host its first international championship,” said chief protocol and sports, Tata Steel, Farzan Heerjee at a press conference on Wednesday evening.

TSAF previously organised a two-day selection trial for Indian athletes on November 17 and 18 for the championship at the same venue.

More than 45 athletes from across the country have been selected to represent the Indian contingent. They went through a three-week national training camp in preparation for the event. The participants are divided into two groups — Youth D in the age group of 10-11 years and Youth C in the age group of 12-13 years.

The winners will be awarded on December 11 in a closing ceremony. Three of the incumbent cadets from the residential TSAF Sport Climbing Academy are a part of the championship.

“The arena will be open for spectators from 8am to 6pm between December 9 and 11. School students have also been invited to view this event. Fun activities like hitting the bull’s eye, and balancing coin on thighs will be arranged and gifts will be given to the winners. This mega event will be streamed live on YouTube and the Facebook page of TSAF,” said TSAF senior official Hemant Gupta.

With the construction of two new walls — one for lead climbing and one for speed climbing under the guidelines of the IFSC, this organisation is looking forward to hosting numerous international and world-class level championships in the future.

A new set of Bouldering walls are under construction making this infrastructure state-of-the-art.