Student Wall-Racing: Toyosu Technical Beats Shinonome Jitsugyo to Reach the Semifinals, Undefeated in Six; Bleachers Expanded to 400 Seats

As previously reported, Wednesday's marquee matchup pitted Toyosu Technical, on a five-match winning streak since the tournament opened, against Shinonome Jitsugyo, last autumn's runner-up and the team that had eliminated Tatsumi Metropolitan — the round's only first-time entrant to reach this stage — in the third round. The match, held on Lane 4, stayed close through the middle rounds, with both teams pausing briefly at the fourth tier. Toyosu Technical's anchor reached the sixth tier in the final stretch, extending the team's link count to three and pulling away from Shinonome Jitsugyo. "Shinonome was strong," said Toyosu Technical's third-year captain. "It wasn't so much about showing off how much we'd trained as it was waiting for the other side to slip. Whoever's next will be even stronger." Shinonome Jitsugyo's advisor, on the losing side, reflected: "Last year's runner-up finish came down to our legs giving out in the final. I'd like to think losing here is the kind of loss that carries into next year, too."

Among the other seven matches, Konan Gakuin — a first-time entrant that had already advanced through the third round — beat the more experienced Shiomi Metropolitan High School 4 tiers 2 links to 3 tiers 3 links to reach the final eight for the first time this season. "Our club only started this season, and we've only got eight members," the team's advisor said. "Getting this far comes down to the players' focus." The school had taken part in the federation's Sept. 3 wall-familiarization event, previously reported, where climbers were only allowed up to the third tier — an experience the advisor credits with helping the team reach the quarterfinals. The remaining six matches were all contested between experienced schools and produced no major upsets, though one of the other schools considered a co-favorite alongside Toyosu Technical needed a narrow 5-tiers-4-links finish to advance.

The temporary bleacher seating, previously reported to be under consideration for expansion, was doubled from 200 to 400 seats, and drew a line before the gates even opened on Wednesday. "Until last year, parents were mostly standing," a federation official said. "With seating now, it feels like more people are staying to watch the whole match through to the end." The federation said there had again been no reported injuries at the tournament since safety training became mandatory, previously reported.

The semifinals are set for later this month, with the final scheduled as usual for November at Kameido Second Wall; the matchups will be announced in the coming days. Toyosu Technical remains undefeated through six matches and the tournament favorite, though its captain kept his guard up: "Going undefeated so far also just means we haven't run into anyone truly strong yet." The professional wall-racing league, as previously reported, holds its own title-deciding final round on the 18th — meaning both the student and professional sides of wall racing head into their biggest moments of the month within days of each other, at Kameido Second Wall and Horikawa Wall respectively.

Of the eight teams reaching the semifinals, Konan Gakuin is the only survivor among the 62 schools that entered the autumn qualifiers as first-timers, previously reported. "Making it through the third round and the quarterfinals as a first-time entrant is unusual, even looking at how the season has gone so far," a federation official said, while cautioning that "the gap in experience with the established schools is likely to show more clearly in the semifinals." Kameido Second Wall, the venue for Wednesday's matches, has become one of this season's central stages for student sports, alongside Suzaki First Stadium, where Shiomigaoka Metropolitan High School, previously reported, won its first title in the autumn high school baseball tournament.