Qualification was the focus of attention as the fourth World Cup of the season began in the city where the sport will make its Olympic debut in 2020.

The host nation's Tsukuru Hori and Yoshiyuki Ogata finished top of the men's standings at Esforta Arena Hachioji.

They were joined by South Korea's Jongwon Chon, who also easily progressed to tomorrow's semi-finals.

Japan's challenge continued with Kaito Watanabe qualifying fourth, with his compatriot Rei Sugimoto, Russia's Aleksei Rubtsov and Israel's Alex Khazanov ending just behind.

Watabe was the winner of the most recent men's World Cup event, which took place in Nanjing, China.

Shauna Coxsey was victorious in the women's competition last week and the Briton continued her impressive run today.

She topped the qualification standings with Japan's Miho Nonaka, with the duo easing into the semi-finals.

They were followed by Slovenia's Janja Garnbret, Japan's Akiyo Noguchi and Michaela Tracy of Britain.

Competition will conclude tomorrow.

The event is organised by the Japan Mountaineering and Sport Climbing Association.

Sport climbing was added to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic programme in August of last year along with four other sports.

Completing the line-up of new additions is baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding and surfing.