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2013 US National YoYo Contest – 2A Analysis

October 10, 2013 By Steve Brown

The 2013 US National YoYo Contest wrapped up this past weekend, and YoYoNews is looking back at each division and bringing you post-contest analysis.

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What in the late 90s – early 2000s was the most fiercely competitive division has now become a thin field for American players. The players at the top are WAY at the top, and the newcomers have a long way to go. The amount of time that it takes to learn 2A tricks versus every other style is remarkably off-putting to new players. While every other style of play requires you to learn a trick and then learn to hit it clean, 2A requires you to learn how to repeat tricks at high speed…the repetition is what weeds people out of this style quickly.

This year’s biggest upset was the last minute decision by defending champion Patrick Mitchell not to attend the event. What started as a showdown between National Champions Patrick Mitchell and Joseph Harris quickly turned in to a free-for-all. The point drop-off from 1st Place to 2nd Place was 21.2 points, and that should give you an idea of the level of competition this year.

Joseph Harris is a solid National Champion, two-times over, and there wasn’t anyone last Saturday who was playing at that level. Yoshi Mikamoto is a solid State/Regional player, but he’s not up to the level yet of being able to take on Joseph or Patrick Mitchell. Up-and-comer Ian Lawson showed a lot of promise and definitely earned his 3rd Place finish, and I think it’s safe to say we can expect some great things from him in the future.

Hawaiian players Ryan Lai and Alexander Kido are both great players but Ryan’s experience and old school style are no match for the new level of 2A, and Alexander still has a way to go before he can match Joseph or Patrick’s level of comfort on stage. Bringing up the bottom of the field we have John Huber who is a performer and demonstrator, not a competitor, and Josh Yee who enters as many divisions as he can without being truly competitive in any of them.

2A just didn’t deliver this year, which is a shame considering how great this style of play looks when done well. But we see some real promise in Ian Lawson and Alexander Kido, and hopefully this is the beginning of great things for both of them.

2013 US National YoYo Contest – 2A Division

1st Place – Joseph Harris

2nd Place – Yoshi Mikamoto

3rd Place – Ian Lawson

Filed Under: Contests Tagged With: 2A, featured, Ian Lawson, joseph harris, three minutes from the cup, us national yoyo contest, Yoshi Mikamoto

Three Minutes From The Cup | Top 2A Contenders

October 3, 2013 By Patrick Borgerding

Three Minutes From The Cup

This year the 2A division is looking incredibly thin, competition-wise. Without Patrick Mitchell defending his title or Grant Johnson seeking to add to his list of titles, the cup for 2A is completely up for grabs!

2A Division

Joseph Harris – 2x National Champion

Joseph Harris is the clear frontrunner and, save a complete meltdown, should walk away with his third title. He had a very strong showing at Worlds despite taking the last spot in the finals. Joseph has improved his choreography considerably and has lots of new concepts and a few solid bangers.

Yoshi Mikamoto

Yoshi is Joseph’s biggest and most serious competition; Yoshi has just missed out on the podium for the last few years and looks poised to finally take home a medal. Yoshi is the most acrobatic 2A player in the US, which is always an applause generator–add in the fact he’s beloved by so many and it is easy to see why he’s a crowd favorite. For Yoshi to take down Joseph he will need to have upped his technical tricks since he last competed, and since he sat out this year at Worlds it will be interesting to see what he brings.

Ian Lawson

Ian one of the few up and coming 2A players. I’m confident he will take home a title eventually, but this might not be his year. He failed to qualify for the finals at this years World YoYo Contest, which means his technical skill just isn’t quite there yet; but he is improving faster than any other player in the United States and we can assume he will have improved considerably even since Worlds. This should land him a spot in the top 3 for the first time.

Ryan Lai

Ryan is a classic 2A player from the THP era which means his fundamentals are on lock. He has a great repertoire of tricks, and with a thin list of competitors Ryan has an undeniable shot at the top 3; he, however, is outmatched considerably by Joseph and Yoshi and will probably be fighting Ian for the final podium spot.

Filed Under: Contests, Players Tagged With: 2A, featured, Ian Lawson, joseph harris, National Yo-Yo Contest, ryan lai, three minutes from the cup, us national yoyo contest, Yoshi Mikamoto

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