Men's and women's lead qualification took place today in Cheongsong ©UIAA

Home fans were given cause for celebration as three South Korean athletes booked their place in tomorrow’s women’s lead final at the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) Ice Climbing World Cup in Cheongsong.

Song Han Na Rai proved to be the star of the opening day of competition, which saw qualification take place in both the men’s and women’s events.

The South Korean, who finished in third place last weekend in Beijing, eased into the semi-final stage and then topped the leaderboard by scoring 14.340 on the route contested.

She would end ahead of Russia’s Mariia Edler and Eimir McSwiggan of Ireland, who were the next highest scorers with 9.252 and 9.251 respectively.

Song will be joined by her fellow South Koreans Ha Min Young and Lee Myoung Hee in tomorrow’s final, with the pairing ending in the top eight places today to qualify.

The men’s competition saw Janez Svoljsak top the leaderboard, as the Slovenian achieved a score of 12.292.

Song Han Na Rai topped the standings in the women's semi-finals ©UIAA
Song Han Na Rai topped the standings in the women's semi-finals ©UIAA

Park Hee Yong ensured the hosts would be represented in tomorrow’s final as the South Korean ended second on 11.282 points.

Russia, who were the dominant force in last weekend’s event in Beijing, will have half of the field in the final.

Maxim Tomilov, Radomir Proshchenko, Alexey Tomilov and Nikolay Primerov would all finish in the top eight.

Surprisingly Alexey Dengin, winner of the season-opening event in Colorado, failed to make it five Russians in the final as he ended ninth in the semi-final.

The World Cup event will conclude tomorrow, with men’s and women’s speed competitions also set to take place.