HOHHOT, China, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese leg of the 2018 UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup kicked off on Friday in Hohhot City, the capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

A total of 80 athletes from 16 countries including Canada, the U.S., Russia and China are participating in the three-day competition.

Russia's Dengin Alexey, Tomilov Alexey and Iran's Safdarian Korouyeh Mohammadreza topped the men's qualification, while Tolokonina Maria, Vlasova Ekaterina and Edler Mariia, all of Russia, ranked top three in the women's qualification.

The top 18 climbers, for both men and women, will compete in the semifinals on Saturday.

Speed competitions will also be held in the next two days.

China is one of the five stops on the 2018 UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour, which also goes to Switzerland, Italy, South Korea and Russia.