The 2016 Asia Pacific Yo-yo Championships was held last week in Singapore, and with yet another huge player turnout, we got a couple of nice surprises among the results!
1A
While we had the usual group of players among the top finishers in 1A, this year we have a brand new face topping the chart! Shion Araya, who finished second at last year’s World Yo-yo Contest, was the winner, with a solid and fast-paced routine, beating AP veterans Marcus Koh, who finished second and took home the Singapore Champion title, and Ahmad Kharisma, arguably the most consistent of the AP contestants.
Last year’s winner, Iori Yamaki, was absent, while veteran contenders Hiroyuki Suzuki and Christopher Chia finished in 6th and 15th place, respectively.
Check out Shion’s winning freestyle and full results from finals below:
- Shion Araya
- Marcus Koh
- Ahmad Kharisma
- Dong Ruida
- Toya Kobayashi
- Hiroyuki Suzuki
- Nuttanan Runagpanich
- Amirrul Rahman
- Kazuya Murata
- Shinya Kido
- Garbkamol Limangkul
- Arif Ramadhan
- Sun Jiahao
- Chiang Shan Cheng
- Christopher Chia
- Hua Phu Nguyen
- Ian Loh
- Ikumi Kato
- Panyapat Ananutamapap
- Brandon Vu
- Thawhir Iqbal
- Hu Ruiheng
- Mohd Omarail Hafizzudin
- Kuo Tzu Wei
2A
The biggest surprise of the contest was in the 2A division, where veteran Liu Man Ki, from Hong Kong, beat 13-time World Champion Shinji Saito, thanks to a major deduction from the latter that was just enough to switch their final rankings. An impressive feat nonetheless!
- Liu Man Ki
- Shinji Saito
- Arata Imai
- Tomoyuki Kaneko
- Shuhei Kanai
- Yuki Takami
- Chan Chun Hay
- Wasakorn Lattilertwit
- Shunsuke Kawakami
- Yoon Jong Ki
- Jun Taniguchi
- Tran Minh Hieu
- Kyle Capiral
3A
3A had fewer big names compared to the other divisions, and Taiichiro Higashi had no trouble securing his second title in a row.
- Taiichiro Higashi
- Yuuki Kurumisawa
- Thawhir Iqbal
- Chen Junhao
- John Eric Galicha
- Teruo Kameya
- Kuo Yung Chih
- Yu Huiwon
- Li Tiancheng
- Winalda Aryudha
- Shuji Kinoshita
- David Lau
4A
Offstring at this year’s AP was nothing short of fantastic! Local legend Lim Aik Hwee took home his fourth AP title 10 years after his first, and after no less than 4 years of competition hiatus!
He was closely followed by Tsubasa Onishi and his usual and always entertaining acrobatics, and Tomohiko Zanka, who got his career’s best result yet!
- Lim Aik Hwee
- Tsubasa Onishi
- Tomohiko Zanka
- Kuo Po Han
- Jeon Ji Hwan
- Sean Hung
- Pornpinit Sanprasert
- Chan Chun Hin
- Dong Ruida
- Jeong Yong Chan
- Osshe Louis
- Nguyen Hoang Tri Hai
- Lee Min Woo
- Wesley Lim
- Mohd Khairsyah
- Brandon Vu
5A
Hideo Ishida had no trouble winning the counterweight division and his first AP title. His “modern old-school” 5A is always a pleasure to watch.
- Hideo Ishida
- Tran Quoc Huy
- Ian Loh
- Naoya Takeuchi
- Kuo Chun Yu
- Wayne Xiu
- Zhu Sheng Yong
- Yuttana Sukhumalchatsombat
- Azim Jameel
- Teruo Kameya
- Chong Yichen
- Marcus Koh
Many thanks to organizers of the Asia Pacific Yo-yo Contest for the official videos, and of course for bringing us yet another fantastic event! Check out their YouTube channel for more videos from the contest!