Congratulations to Takahiko Hasegawa, winner of the Over 40 Division at the 2019 World YoYo Contest!
Full results below, and video of the rest of the division here: 2019 World YoYo Contest Over-40 Division
Search Results for: takahiko hasegawa
YoYo Spotlight – 66Percent Barracuda & Haymaker
66Percent Barracuda Specs:
Diameter: 37 mm
Width: 29.4 mm
Weight: 56.8 grams
Response: 66Percent Pad
Bearing: Size A (5x10x4 mm)
66Percent Haymaker Specs:
Diameter: 38 mm
Width: 28.3 mm
Weight: 44.4 grams
Response: 66Percent Pad
Bearing: Size A (5x10x4 mm)
The 66Percent project by Spingear is one of the cooler small-run yoyo projects we’ve seen. Takahiko Hasegawa from Spingear takes his favorite yoyos, reduces them to 66% of their original size, and then has them machined out of stainless steel for maximum playability. The first two models in the series are both from Duncan Toys, the Barracuda and the Haymaker.
PLAY
The 66Percent series brings a lot more play value than the average mini yoyo. Being slightly larger than most mini yoyos, the 66Percent Barracuda and Haymaker are both plenty capable of hitting pretty much any of your tricks, although the reduced size will definitely make them more challenging! The steel construction gives them enough weight that you can still really feel them on the end of the string, which helps a lot in pushing through your favorite tricks. For a novelty yoyo, these really pack a ton of play value. (Note: the 66Percent Haymaker is actually a bi-metal, with an aluminum body and steel rims.)
LOOKS
The 66Percent series keeps it simple without any engraving or logos on either the Barracuda or Haymaker. The Barracuda comes in raw or rose gold, and the Haymaker comes in blue/raw. They’re so tiny that keeping it simple really is the best option, and the result is that these look clean and elegant in your hand and on the string.
VALUE
Both the 66Percent Barracuda and 66Percent Haymaker retail for $85. For Japanese machining quality and such a cool and unique item, it really is a great price for anyone looking for something fun to throw in their pocket, or looking for a challenge to keep them sharp during practice sessions.
BUY NOW
The 66% Haymaker and 66% Barracuda are available at YoYoExpert.com.
THIS POST SPONSORED BY YOYOEXPERT
Whistle Rhapsodies – 2016 Team Video
Team Whistle just dropped their 2016 team video, filmed at the Japan Open YoYo Contest. It’s solid. Enjoy!
Featuring these awesome players throwing these stellar yoyos:
Renta Motoyama – Prototype from UNPRLD
Hinata Yamada – Axis YoYos EX!
Brian Low – Prototype from Mythril YoYos
Arata Imai – YoYoRecreation Valkyrie
Yuki Uchida – Japan Technology Eagle Eye
Ayumu Harada – CLYW Big Dipper
Takahiko Hasegawa – Microphone
Yuki Yamaguchi – MixtrackPro II
Sota Aoyagi – CLYW Borealis
Shuyun Tang – Index
Shotaro Matsuda – YoYoRecreation Lazer
(Keiran, Colin, Ian, Dillon, Ryuichi, Zhao, Huy, Harrison, Yasuki, Yuu)
Takumi Yasumoto – C NINE
Mizuki Takimoto – YoYoRecreation Sygtyr
Kengo Kido – iPhone 6
2016 World YoYo Contest Winners (VIDEO)
We’ve got video of the winners of the 2016 World YoYo Contest! You can view Prelim & Semi-Final routines here: YoYoVideoArchive, and the rest of the Finals are being uploaded slowly but surely here: 2016 World YoYo Contest on YouTube.
1A Division – Shion Araya
2A Division – Shu Takada (YoYoFactory)
3A Division – Hajime Miura (Something)
4A Division – Rei Iwakura
5A Division – Takeshi Matsuura
Women’s Division – Beatrix Gallegos Gracia (YoYoFactory)
Over-40 Division – Takahiko Hasegawa
Spin Top – Chris Neff
The Biggest Winners in 24 Years of the World YoYo Contest
First written in 2012, updated with titles up to 2017.
We have no new World Champions in 2017! Every winner this year had won the World Title previously! In 1A, Shion Araya repeated his solid performance from last year to become only the second 1A player in history to win two titles back to back. Shu Takada won his third consecutive title, including the 2015 AP division title with Shaqler. Hajime Miura remains undisputed in 3A, winning his fourth straight title! Rei Iwakura proves hard work pays off, winning his sixth title! 5A saw the return of 2009 World Champion Takuma Inoue, winning his second title after eight years! AP also saw the return of past champions, with the Swiss duo InMotion! (Ivo Studer and Jan Schmutz) also winning their second title.
Some considerations before we give you the goods: we’ve only considered the “modern era” World YoYo Contest, held since 1992. There was one true World YoYo Contest before it, but it wasn’t a freestyle contest. Its winner was mister Harvey Lowe, in 1932. Between 1995 and 1997, the “Pro-Am” division was considered, and counted as 2A for this article’s purpose, as all winners in that division were expected to play with two looping yo-yos.
So without further ado, these are all the multiple time winners of the World YoYo Contest by number of titles.
Multiple Winners of the World YoYo Contest
| Player | Country | Total Titles | Divisions | Years |
| Shinji Saito | Japan | 13 | 2A, Combined | 2A: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015 Combined: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 |
| Takeshi Matsuura | Japan | 7 | 5A | 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 |
| Rei Iwakura | Japan | 6 | 4A, AP | 4A: 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 AP: 2009 |
| Daisuke Shimada | Japan | 4 | X, 3A | X: 2002 3A: 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| Hiroyuki Suzuki | Japan | 4 | 1A | 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012 |
| Yu Kawada | Japan | 4 | 1A, AP | 1A: 2000 AP: 2006, 2013 (with Spination), 2014 (with Spination) |
| Hajime Miura | Japan | 4 | 3A | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 |
| Shu Takada | Japan | 4 | 2A, AP | 2A: 2012, 2016, 2017 AP: 2015 (with Shaqler) |
| Bill de Boisblanc | USA | 3 | 2A | 1994, 1995, 1997 |
| Takahiko Hasegawa | Japan | 3 | AP | 2002, 2005, 2011 |
| Hank Freeman | USA | 3 | 3A | 2011, 2012, 2013 |
| Takuma Yamamoto | Japan | 3 | 2A | 2008, 2013, 2014 |
| Tomiyuki Watanabe | Japan | 3 | AP | 2004, 2013 (with Spination), 2014 (with Spination) |
| John Ando | Japan | 3 | 1A, AP | 1A: 2008 AP: 2010 (with Shaqler), 2015 (with Shaqler) |
| Tomonari Ishiguro | Japan | 2 | 1A, AP | 1A: 2001 AP: 2007 |
| Yuuki Spencer | USA | 2 | 1A | 2002, 2007 |
| Eiji Okuyama | Japan | 2 | 4A | 2003, 2007 |
| Tsubasa Onishi | Japan | 2 | 4A | 2004, 2010 |
| Naoto Okada | Japan | 2 | 4A | 2009, 2011 |
| Atsushi Yamada | Japan | 2 | AP | 2010 (with Shaqler), 2015 (with Shaqler) |
| Takeshi Maruyama | Japan | 2 | AP | 2010 (with Shaqler), 2015 (with Shaqler) |
| Shion Araya | Japan | 2 | 1A | 2016, 2017 |
| Takuma Inoue | Japan | 2 | 5A | 2009, 2017 |
| Ivo Studer | Switzerland | 2 | AP | 2012 (with InMotion!), 2017 (with InMotion!) |
| Jan Schmutz | Switzerland | 2 | AP | 2012 (with InMotion!), 2017 (with InMotion!) |
Shinji Saito dominates both 2A and Combined, and is the sole winner of the four editions ever held of that division. 4A has a surprising number of two-time winners, and Shaqler is the only team to win more than one World Title.
Surprisingly, we only had one first-time winner this year, Shion Araya!
One-Time World YoYo Contest Winners:
- 1A: Ryoichi Suzuki (1998), Joel Zink (1999), Johnnie DelValle (2003), Shinya Kido (2009), Jensen Kimmitt (2010), Marcus Koh (2011), János Karancz (2013), Gentry Stein (2014), Zach Gormley (2015)
- 2A: Dale Oliver (1992), Rocco Ysaguire (1993), Dale Myrberg (1996), Jennifer Baybrook (1998), Takumi Nagase (1999), Tomoya Kitamura (2000), Matt Harlow (2001), Yasushi Furukawa (2010)
- 3A: Paul Yath (2006), Yuuki Tanami (2007), Hiroki Miyamoto (2008), Kentaro Kimura (2009), Minato Furuta (2010)
- 4A: John Narum (2005), Taiki Nishimura (2006), Michael Nakamura (2013), Naoto Onishi (2015)
- 5A: Rafael Matsunaga (2003), Makoto Numagami (2004), Maya Nakamura (2005), Dana Bennett (2006), Tyler Severance (2007), Jake Elliott (2015).
- X: Hironori Mii (2000), Shingo Terada (2001)
- AP: Mark Montgomery (2003), John Higby (2008)
What about per-country count? Can you tell how far ahead Japan is? Check it out:
World YoYo Contest Winners by Country
| Country | Titles |
| Japan | 82 |
| USA | 26 |
| Switzerland | 2 |
| Brazil | 1 |
| Canada | 1 |
| Singapore | 1 |
| Hungary | 1 |
Japan is far, far ahead of the competition, having added another five titles in 2017, with USA in clear second, Switzerland comes third with the two title from InMotion!, followed by one-timers Brazil (Rafael Matsunaga, 2003), Canada (Jensen Kimmitt, 2010), Singapore (Marcus Koh, 2011), and Hungary (János Karancz, 2013)! If we take the 1932 Worlds into account, Canada rises to two titles, although officially Harvey Lowe competed for China, as there was another Canadian competing and rules only allowed one contestant per country.
Will someone ever equal Shinji’s astounding number? We’ll need to wait at least six more years to find out! Or hope someone wins more than one title in the same year!
Spin Gear Releases New Batch Of Line Stickers
Hello, and welcome to the absolute most adorable yoyo-related thing you’ll see all year.
Japanese yoyo retailer SpinGear has created two packs of special “stickers” for the popular Japanese messaging app Line, featuring SpinGear owner Takahiko Hasegawa, with appearances by YoYoRecreations’ Kengo Kido, CLYW’s Chris Mikulin, Ayumu Harada, and Harrison Lee, One Drop’s Ryosuke Kawamura, and even YoYoFactory’s Ben McPhee (munching on Mister Donut with his trusty camera around his neck). This is seriously one of the best things ever!
Download the sticker packs at the links below. (If you open them on your mobile phone, they should automatically open in the Line app).
SpinGear Pack 1 / SpinGear Pack 2
Hundred% Duncan International Open Freestyles
The Hundred% Duncan International Yo-yo Open was held in Kuala Lumpur on October 25th-26th, and we have full results and freestyles videos!
The 1A division had the best players from Southeast Asia fighting for the title, and the winner was AP champion Ahmad Kharisma from Indonesia, edging out Marcus Koh and Christopher Chia from Singapore.
The Y division was also quite strong despite having 2A to 5A all gathered in the same division. The winner was Japan’s Ryuya Kaneko, followed by a strong Thai duo: “Han” Sanprasert and Wasakorn Laitilertwit!
Check the results and freestyle videos below, courtesy of Kedaiyoyo! Be sure to visit their YouTube channel to see all the freestyles!
1A Division
- Ahmad Kharisma (Indonesia) – 75.43
- Marcus Koh (Singapore) – 66.38
- Christopher Chia (Singapore) – 64.72
- Ho Swee Jim (Malaysia) – 51.58
- Sean Hung (Singapore) – 51.09
- Wazir Zahari (Malaysia) – 46.14
- Muhammad Shakeel (Malaysia) – 45.74
- Zafran Aqil (Malaysia) – 39.23
- Jeremy Tan (Singapore) – 31.58
- Hassan Marialis (Malaysia) – 30.63
- Kang Seonho (South Korea) – 25.25
- Immran Khash (Malaysia) – 24.99
- Kendrick Hu (Singapore) – 22.41
- Kenneth Bay (Singapore) – 22.32
- Muhammad I’zzun (Singapore) – 10.86
Y Division
- Ryuya Kaneko (Japan) – 79.46
- Pornpinit Sanprasert (Thailand) – 73.41
- Wasakorn Laitilertwit (Thailand) – 60.10
- Sean Hung (Singapore) – 56.78
- Fajar Siddiq (Singapore) – 54.87
- Muhammad Shakeel (Malaysia) – 52.74
- Sittiporn Noppakoon (Thailand) – 44.81
- Ewin Ee (Malaysia) – 41.72
- Muhammad Muhsin (Malaysia) – 17.03
- Takahiko Hasegawa (Japan) – 13.81
- Azim Jameel (Brunei) – 10.79
- Fa’iq Farisan (Malaysia) – 6.49
Over 200 players to compete at Asia Pacific Prelims!
The 2013 Asia-Pacific YoYo Contest will be held next weekend in Singapore, and the list of players for the preliminary round is just massive, with over two hundred players competing in all divisions during the whole day.
Last year, AP shared the same dates as the China YoYo Corporation Championships, leading to a decrease in the number of contestants, but this year the entire region will be gathered at the same spot, ranging from several World Champions from Japan to newcomers from the newly booming Vietnam scene.
Among those battling for a spot in the finals are World Champions Daisuke Shimada, Tsubasa Onishi, Takahiko Hasegawa, and Marcus Koh.
The 2013 Singapore YoYo Contest will also be held along with AP 2013, so Singaporean players have an extra incentive to do their best in their home turf.
Check the full preliminary list right here.
YoYoFactory Booth Video @ 2013 International Toy Fair in New York
Japanese yoyo star Takahiko Hasegawa was the best source of yoyo news and pictures at the 2013 International Toy Fair in New York this year, and he just posted this video tour of the YoYoFactory booth. This is our first really good look at the new Ricochet, a titanium yoyo coming soon from YoYoFactory. Release date and price have not yet been finalized, but we hear it will be available in Spring 2013 in the $200 – $300 range. And from the engraving, it appears that these will be a limited edition of only 500 pieces. Enjoy the video!
Yomega at 2013 International Toy Fair in New York (Booth 967) *UPDATED*
*UPDATED* Thanks to YoYoExpert‘s Andre Boulay for additional booth pictures! See below!
Yomega is showing off their new Star Wars license at the 2013 International Toy Fair in New York. In addition to Star Wars versions of existing models, they’re also showing “Yo-Men”, a sculpted action figure yoyo stand. We found some pictures on Takahiko Hasegawa’s Instagram feed…check out the images and Yomega’s official press release below!
YOMEGA PUTS A GALACTIC SPIN ON YO-YOS WITH INTRODUCTION OF ITS
NEW STAR WARS(TM) COLLECTIONYomega Corp. puts the power of the Force in the hands of kids and yo-yo fans with a new collection of yo-yos based on the legendary Star Wars saga. For the first time, Star Wars characters will be featured in a line of high performance yo-yos that will have yo-yoers and Star Wars fans scanning the galaxy to collect them all.
“We know that many yo-yo enthusiasts are also avid Star Wars fans,” said Todd Rywolt, Co-President of Yomega. “The Yomega team has really put a lot of passion and care into developing high performance yo-yos that would deliver upon the essence of Star Wars and appeal to both audiences.”
Details of Yomega’s Star Wars yo-yo line will be unveiled at the International Toy Fair, beginning February 10 in New York.
Star Wars Yomega® Fireball™
Yomega has merged its popular Fireball yo-yo with some of the most popular Star Wars characters, including Darth Vader and Yoda. The Star Wars Yomega Fireball patented transaxle system allows for high speed and smooth spins that are over three times longer than an ordinary yo-yo. The yo-yo’s design will feature character imagery and will include String Bling™, a collectible ring molded in a Star Wars character’s likeness. The yo-yo string attaches to the String Bling ring for added comfort while performing classic as well as advanced looping yo-yo tricks. Wave 1 of the Star Wars Yomega Fireball will include Darth Vader, Clone Trooper, Yoda and Boba Fett. (MSRP: $10.95; Recommended for ages 8 & up; Available in Fall 2013)Star Wars Yomega® Yo-Men High Performance Yo-Yos and Action Stands
Yomega’s Yo-Men are the newest, coolest way to play and display your yo-yos and favorite Star Wars characters! Yomega Yo-Men come with a Star Wars Yomega Fireball yo-yo cradled in a highly detailed Yo-Men Action Stand sculpted in the character’s likeness. The yo-yos feature a bold character image and Yomega’s patented transaxle system that allows for high speed and smooth spins. Star Wars Yo-Men Wave 1 will include Darth Vader, Clone Trooper, Yoda and General Grievous. (MSRP: $15.95; Recommended for ages 8 & up; Available in Fall 2013)Yomega® Elite Metals Glide™: Star Wars Special Edition
Yomega brings its heralded new competition-level Glide yo-yo to a new level with a sleek, sophisticated Star Wars Special Edition. This showcase piece features laser etching and is for the most discerning Star Wars and yo-yo collector and for the yo-yo player looking to make a statement. The Yomega Glide is the result of more than a year of engineering and technical refinement and is the first introduction in Yomega’s new Elite Metals collection. The Glide has been engineered for the perfect weight and dimension at 66 grams without string, 2.25 inches in diameter and a string gap of .163 inches, and features a silicone pad return system and the legendary Dif-e-Yo KonKave bearing. The Yomega Glide: Star Wars Special Edition Wave 1 will include Darth Vader, Stormtrooper, Boba Fett and the Rebel Alliance and Imperial symbols. (MSRP: $149.95; Recommended for ages 8 & up; Available in Summer 2013)
Be sure to swing by their booth and pick up their show exclusive, a limited edition Yomega Brain yoyo made just for the 2013 International Toy Fair.
Top 10 YoYo Players on Twitter
Everyone loves a Top Ten list, right? The kids go crazy for the Twitter these days, so I thought it was about time someone ranked the best yoyo players on Twitter. Because, you know, if it’s not ranked, does it really exist? And besides, all the cool blogs have Top Ten lists, so here’s ours!
10 – Ann Connolly – @annmayy
Best Recent Tweet: I woke up to bloody toes with bruises and remnants
of neon paint all over my body. I just @ Coral Bungalows
http://instagr.am/p/Te94izG3Tj/
Ann’s arguably the world’s best known female yoyoer. She’s been traveling quite a bit recently and her Twitter feed has taken a bit of a travelog feel about it.
9 – Drew Tetz – @drewtetz
Best Recent Tweet: clippers died halfway through my haircut. i look
like two-face, or an urban outfitters employee. please charge faster.
Drew’s one of the good guys of yoyoing. He tweets about yoyoing, art, design, and his many creations including lasercut yoyos and kendamas.
8 – Paul Escolar – @paulescolar
Best Recent Tweet: My recycled plastic/wood composite desk chair just
cracked. Sh*t just got real. going #GREEN is not for #FATTIES .
Runner Up: WOW, That was a Good Belch! I don’t remember the last time
i had one that was more than a mere Burp. #BOOGERWOULDBEPROUD
Fabulously funny Paul really rarely tweets about yoyos, but his tweets are funny and, yes, fabulous. And for good measure, follow him on Instagram for peeks at his sketchbook.
7 – Ed Haponik – @kinopah
Best Recent Tweet: more and more, i find the overall quality of my
original tricks to be inversely proportional to their length.
http://vimeo.com/56491225
A school teacher by trade, Ed is almost poetic in his writing. OK, strike the ‘almost’, he IS poetic. He even avoids capital letters in a nod to poet e.e. cummings. Smart, thoughtful feed from a good guy. If you’re looking for a role model in yoyoing, you could do worse than Ed Haponik. For example, Steve Brown. See? Definitely worse than Ed Haponik.
6 – Hiroyuki Suzuki – @HSJPN
Best Recent Tweet: Christopher Chia met Ludacris when he was shooting
ANGLAM Ver.CC Video! pic.twitter.com/uyp5B86s
Multi-time world 1A champion posits on his store, his yo-yos, mainly in Japanese, but sometimes in English.
5 – Takahiko Hasegawa @Taka_yoyo
From what I could find, Taka is the world’s most followed yoyoer on
Twitter. (Keep in mind my study consisted of a bored Sunday afternoon
on the internet). That’s the good news. The bad news is Take tweets
solely in Japanese. Still, there’s lots of pics of cool yoyos!
4 – Daniel Ickler – @ZammyIckler
Best Recent Tweet: I wish they made pizza on a stick, like how a
corndog is like.
Runner Up: Merry Z-Mas and Zammy New Year to all! Sorry if as Zammy
Clause is delievering yoyos that he breaks a door..or chimney.
Endlessly entertaining feed, some of which was actually intended to be funny! The personable Zammy will tweet about anything and everything.. .be forewarned, he’s liable to put a ‘z’ in just about any word. In the immortal words of Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids – “And if you’re not careful, you may learn something before it’s done!”
3 – Chris Mikulin – @clyw_canada
Best Recent Tweet: Oh ya FYI we’re making a plastic return top!!! Lol … Soooo stoked 🙂
Chris has proven time and time again to be one of the sweetest guys in the industry, and his Twitter feed shows the results of that….a nearly endless stream of love and support from CLYW fans, peppered with news about CLYW releases and videos.
2- YoYoFactory – @yoyofactory
Best Recent Tweet: Just saw the @yoyoskills award list. Lol. Not sure
who is kidding who. #undeniable
Ben McPhee’s in charge of the Twitter feed at YoYoFactory and he’s quite a personality. The guy that everyone loves to hate weighs in on style, life and (occasionally) yoyoing.
1 – Steve Brown – @unklesteve
Best Recent Tweet: I’d love to write a sequel to The Vagina Monologues
made of stories from male audience members who didn’t know what they
were going to see.
The never-shy Steve Brown is always entertaining and often polarizing. He’s been around long enough to know just about everyone in yoyoing and at some point has pissed off all of them.
Steve also maintains @365YoYoTricks (one new yoyo trick every day), @sbgallery (his online art gallery), @triplecrownyoyo (official Twitter account for the Triple Crown of YoYo contest), and @shinbonetweet (his company that handles digital sculpting and prototyping).
Honorable Mention:
YoYoRadio – @YoYo_Radio
Shameless self promotion. The world’s first internet radio show about
yoyoing called yoyoradio.net. Yes, there is a second internet radio
show about yoyoing called yoyoradio.net. We were first. We are best.
TAKE THAT, copycat Japanese yo-yo radio!
Dishonorable Mention:
World Yo-Yo Contest – @wyyc
Best Recent Tweet: Testing the WYYC twitter feed.
Runner-Up: No, that’s it. It’s the biggest yo-yo contest in the world
, and their Twitter feed amounts to one tweet that’s over two years
old. And they wonder why people want the contest to move out of
Orlando…
That’s all, folks! And don’t forget to follow @YoYoNewsBlog on Twitter for the latest updates on stories just like this one. How incredibly meta!
New YoYoFactory Packaging & New Ricochet YoYo
Our friend Takahiko Hasegawa is at the Hong Kong Toy Fair, and he posted these pics to his Instagram account of the new YoYoFactory packaging. He also posted a pic of a new metal yoyo that we apparently weren’t supposed to see yet, since he deleted the pictures shortly afterwards. I didn’t grab the pics immediately when I saw them, and now I don’t remember the name of the yoyo. A text message to Seth Peterson at YoYoFactory yielded this: “Wait until Toy Fair. Maybe.”
So, rumor has it YoYoFactory has a new metal yoyo coming out that is currently on display in Hong Kong and might be on display in New York in February. More info when we get it! In the meantime, dig the new YoYoFactory packaging…hats off to John Huber for another fantastic job!
UPDATE: The yoyo is called the Ricochet, and František Bína pointed out on our Facebook page that YoYoFactory posted a pic of it on their Instagram. It’s been mentioned that it’s titanium, but no one from YoYoFactory will confirm. Pic below!
YoYoJam Edge Prototype on eBay (UPDATED)
Looks like Valerie from YoYoJam is selling a rare, unproduced prototype yoyo called the “Edge”
that was “designed in cooperation with Japanese players”. Was this going to be another signature model for Mickey before he left YoYoJam? (EDIT: Just got word from Takahiko Hasegawa that this was originally intended to be a signature model for Tomonori “Black” Ishiguro, but the shaped changed from what was eventually produced and offered in limited quantities at the World YoYo Contest.) No idea, but it sure is shiny and if there’s one thing we like here at YoYoNews….it’s stuff that is shiny.
Only five of these were ever produced, and this auction is for what appears to be the only one remaining in Valerie’s personal collection. The auction is only going for another day and change, so get your bids in soon!
44CLASH, a look at the favorites
The fifth edition of 44CLASH is upon us! The competition will take place on November 24th and 25th, in Yokohama. Who will be the winner of one the world’s most prestigious events? Last year’s winner Anthony Rojas will not be competing this year; who will be newly crowned champion? Let’s take a look at the roster!
1A
In 1A, we have a very powerful lineup battling for the title. The seed list starts off with none other than Hiroyuki Suzuki, who’s back at the top of the World and feels right at hope under pressure. Up against the king is the young 2012 US National Champion, Zach Gormley, who put out a fantastic show last month. Also in 1A we have some incredibly technical players: Christopher Chia from Singapore, Luis Enrique Villasenor from Mexico, Peter Pong Si Yee from Hong Kong, and Tatsuya Fujisaka from Japan, serious contenders in any competition.
Among the non-seeded players, the highlights are the one and only Jason Lee, lightning-fast Ryosuke Iwasawa, Mexican wonder Paul Kerbel, the young Izuru Hasumi, trick genius Hidemasa Senba, YoyoFactory’s Reiki Sekiya, the “Ruthless” Takahiro Iizuka, and none other than the 2011 World Champion Marcus Koh!
2A
Nothing less than fantastic can be expected from a high-level 2A competition in Japan. World Champion Shu Takada will face competition from the bendy Masakazu Yamasaki, AP Champion Shunsuke Kawakami, Shaqler’s Atsushi Yamada, and none other than 1999 World Champion Takumi Nagase!
X
X division promises to be a treat this year. Reigning 4A World Champion Rei Iwakura will face fierce competition from his Yoyojam teammate Bryan Figueroa, and 3A monster Minato Furuta. Also in X, we have a very interesting and varied set of contestants: among the seeds, Bryan Jardin and Sean Perez from the Philippines, Min Woo Lee from Korea, and Jason Kao from Taiwan. Battling in the prelims, we have National Master Takahiko Hasegawa, 5A showman Hideo Ishida, Duncan Crew’s Takayuki Kuriyama, “Go Big” Ben Conde, X division veteran Kenji Eto, 3A master Taichiro Higashi, Hiroyasu “Pon” Ishihara, and the explosive Tsubasa Oonishi.
Who will come up on top? We’ll find out in just a couple of days!