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2024 CrossFit Games Asia Semifinal Preview: How To Watch, Rosters, and Schedule

May 14, 2024 by

The 2024 Asia Semifinal by the Far East Throwdown is returning to the BEXCO Convention & Exhibition Center in Busan, South Korea, on Friday, May 17. This competition marks the official beginning of the first three CrossFit Semifinals weeks.

Athletes from the Asia region will be the first ones to test out this year’s six events, and the top two men and top three women (up from two last season) from the 40-athlete field will advance to the 2024 CrossFit Games.

Let’s take a look at the contenders in Asia.

Top 10 Men & Women by Quarterfinals Finish

  • 1. Ivan Kukartsev | Seher Kaya
  • 2. Morteza Sedaghat | Seungyeon Choi
  • 3. Mevlut Agir | Dawon Jung
  • 4. Seungjong Kim | Evie Hollis
  • 5. Ilyas Kuliev | Anastasya Dodonova
  • 6. Paolo Rossil | Anna Ivanova
  • 7. Ant Haynes | Kim Minjeong
  • 8. Ruslan Miftakhov | Omer Reshef
  • 9. Seokbeom Kim | Adele Quinton-Page
  • 10. Chen Sheng | Anastasia Smirnova

Women’s Division

The Heavy Favorite

Seher Kaya: Two-time CrossFit Games athlete Seher Kaya is the one to watch on the women’s side. 

The 25-year-old competes for Turkey but grew up in Norway and trains at the powerhouse CrossFit Oslo, a gym stacked with Games athletes. 

[Related: 2024 CrossFit Semifinals Rosters Revealed — Breaking Down the Numbers]

  • Last year, Kaya won the Asia Semifinal by 129 points and went on to finish 23rd at the Games. Barring a disaster, Kaya — who just finished first in Asia in Quarterfinals with just eight points and 43rd worldwide — is all but a shoo-in to return to the Games this year.

Worth noting: The second 2023 Games qualifier from Asia, Shahad Budebs of the United Arab Emirates, didn’t compete this season, opening up a spot for a new athlete to snag a spot this year. 

  • Budebs told the Morning Chalk Up that she’s currently dealing with a herniated disc and is focused on beginning a new career at the Dubai Police Academy. As a result, she has “chosen to postpone competing for a year to focus on my career and recovery.”

Top Challengers

Seungyeon Choi: After sitting out last season because of a nagging shoulder injury, Korea’s Seungyeon Choi is back this year to fight for her third trip to the Games (Choi competed at the Games in 2021 and 2022, finishing 34th and 26th, respectively). 

  • If Quarterfinals are any indication, it looks like the 26-year-old Choi is stronger than ever. She finished behind Kaya with 20 overall points. 
  • For the record: The last time Kaya and Choi went head-to-head at Semifinals was in 2022, and it was Choi who took the top spot.

Evie Hollis: Evie Hollis is new to the Asia region this season, but the 27-year-old, who is competing for the United Arab Emirates, has competed at Semifinals three times. 

  • Hollis was sixth in 2021 while competing for the UK at the CrossFit German Throwdown Semifinals. She missed Games qualification by just one spot.
  • In 2022, she was 15th at the CrossFit Strength in Depth Semifinals and finished 42nd at the very competitive 2023 Europe Semifinals. Despite only finishing fourth in the region in the Quarterfinals, Hollis has to be considered a top contender with three spots available this year from Asia for the women.

Dawon Jung: Korea’s Dawon Jung, who finished just one point behind Choi in Quarterfinals, has been knocking at the door for a while now and is looking to finally break through. 

  • Jung, 29, has competed at Semifinals three times and missed Games qualification by just one spot in 2022 and 2023.

Don’t Forget About

Anastasiya Dodonova: Last year, Russia’s Anastasiya Dodonova came out of nowhere and led the Asia Semifinals for the first two days. In the end, she had a challenging Day 3 and missed the cutline by just 10 points.

  • Dodonova was fifth in the region in Quarterfinals this season. If the 29-year-old has ironed out some of her weaknesses from last year, she could very well be in the mix to earn one of the three spots from Asia.

Men’s Division

The Heavy Favorite 

Arthur Semenov: A two-time CrossFit Games athlete from Russia, Arthur Semenov is considered the top name in Asia. The 30-year-old won the Asia Semifinals last season by 52 points and was second the year before. 

Both times, he went on to finish 39th at the Games. 

[Related: Move Fast and Lift Heavy: 5 of Our Favorite CrossFit Semifinals Moments]

  • Interestingly, Semenov only placed 32nd in Asia in Quarterfinals this season, but his past performances speak for themselves in terms of his ability to punch another ticket to the Games.

Top Challengers

Morteza Sedaghat: The 27-year-old from Iran qualified for the Games last year when he finished second to Semenov; however, visa challenges prevented him from making the trip to Madison.

  • Most recently, Sedaghat finished second in the recent Quarterfinals and is expected to challenge Semenov. That said, it’s unclear whether or not he’ll have similar visa challenges this year, should he earn a ticket.

Ant Haynes: After finishing third at the Asia Semifinals last season, China’s Ant Haynes received a backfill invite when Sedaghat wasn’t able to travel to the United States. He finished 30th. The 33-year-old also competed at the Games in 2019, where he came in 27th.

  • Like Semenov, Haynes finished a bit lower down the leaderboard than expected at Quarterfinals – seventh – but his experience speaks for itself.

Ivan Kukartsev: The 26-year-old Russian topped the Quarterfinals leaderboard (with just 21 points) in Asia, and finished 88th worldwide, so we can’t ignore him. 

  • This will be Kukartsev’s first time competing at Semifinals as an Individual; however, he has been competing since 2018 and was part of the Asia Semifinals winning team at Semifinals in 2021 (the team did not compete at the Games).

Melvut Agir: The 30-year-old from Turkey may only have finished 19th in Semifinals in 2023 and 20th in 2022, but his third-place Quarterfinals finish last month suggests he has made great improvements in the last year. He might be a long shot, but he shouldn’t be left off the list of contenders.

Don’t Forget About

Seungjong Kim: Seventh in last year’s Semifinals and 14th the year before, the 28-year-old from Korea is a three-time Semifinals athlete. He has been competing since 2018, improving his performances every year, and he’s coming off a fourth-place Quarterfinals finish.

The Bottom Line

With only two spots for the men and three for the women up for grabs in Asia this weekend, there’s arguably less room for error than those competing in regions with 10-plus Games tickets. 

Although we have pegged Kaya and Semenov as the most likely to dominate in Korea, one or two small mistakes could open the door for a handful of hard-charging challengers.

How To Watch the Far East Throwdown

A full slate of coverage will be available across many platforms, including the CrossFit Games website, the CrossFit Games App, Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube. 

[Related: 3 Up-and-Comers to Watch at the Men’s CrossFit Semifinals]

Schedule

All times are listed in Korean Standard Time. See below for conversions to EST.

Friday, May 17

  • 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m.: Team Event 1
  • 11 a.m.-12 p.m.: Team Event 2
  • 12:45-3:20 p.m.: Individual Event 1
  • 3:35-5:20 p.m.: Team Event 3

Saturday, May 18

  • 9 a.m.-12 p.m.: Individual Event 2
  • 12:20-1:20 p.m.: Team Event 4
  • 2:20-5 p.m.: Individual Event 3
  • 5:15-6:15 p.m.: Team Event 5

Sunday, May 19

  • 9-11:20 a.m.: Individual Event 4
  • 12:20-2:30 p.m.: Individual Event 5
  • 2:45-4:15 p.m.: Individual Event 6

(Podium ceremonies will follow Team Event 5 on Saturday and Individual Event 6 on Sunday.)

Time Zone Conversions: 

  • Eastern Standard Time: 13 hours behind Korea.
    • The competition begins at 11:45 p.m., Thursday, May 16.
  • Pacific Standard Time: 16 hours behind Korea.
    • The competition begins at 8:45 p.m., Thursday, May 16.

More CrossFit Semifinals Coverage

Check out these other stories as we head into the 2024 CrossFit Semifinals:

Featured image: @seherkaaya / Instagram

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