The newly-formed International YoYo Federation has just announced the round structure for future World YoYo Contests, starting with the 2014 contest in Prague.
There are a couple of big changes here. First and foremost, due to the increasing number of national contests being held around the globe, national champions are no longer granted a spot in the finals, and will instead join the semi-final round.
Multinational, or continental contests are now fully recognized in the round structure, and winners of the Asia-Pacific YoYo Championships, European YoYo Championships, and North American YoYo Championship (if established) will all be granted a spot in the final round.
The top ten players in all National Contests will start in the preliminary round, which now has significantly less competitors.
Non-qualified players will still have a shot at the title, but will start at the new wildcard round. This will be a short 30-second freestyle round, likely held in a private room, with fewer judges evaluating the player’s technical skills (clickers only), and with limited music choice.
Seeding rules have also been announced, and determine the player’s eligibility for national titles and Worlds seeding. Some rules remain the same, such as the Worlds seeding term, which starts at the previous year’s World YoYo Contest and the start of the next edition of the contest.
Rules for players who can legally compete in more than one national contest are now addressed. In summary, a player can only compete at one national contest each year, and if he’s eligible to compete at two national contests for the same Worlds seeding term, only the first one will be considered.
Players from countries without a national contest will also benefit from the multinational contest rules, as placing among the top ten in those contests will grant a spot in the preliminary round of the World YoYo Contest.
These rules apply to all contests held from August 11th, 2013.