YoYo Related News From Around The World
Filipino badass Joebert Flores has officially been throwing for 10 years! He dropped a new video to celebrate, and you should watch it, enjoy it, and then head over to YouTube and wish him a happy anniversary in the comments. Congrats on 10 years, Joebert!
Yoyo used is the General Yo Legato.
The 2016 Philippine National YoYo Contest just happened, and if you have any love for the history of yoyoing then this event holds a special place in your heart. Plus, you know, tons of talent and kick-ass players. Check out a great write-up of the contest by Kyle Capiral, and video of the winners below!
2016 marked the 12th Philippine National YoYo Contest. The National Contest was held last September 10 and 11, 2016 at SM City Marikina, home to some of the best players in the Philippines. Around 50 players joined the contest and battled it out for the Preliminaries on the 1st day. 31 players played their best on the 2nd day for the Finals which was joined by seeded players Johan Baylosis from Dumaguete and Meejay Olaybar from Manila who won the 2016 Visayas Regional YoYo Contest for 1A and X-Division (with 5A) respectively.
3A saw John Eric Galicha winning his 3rd National title with a clean and technical packed freestyle. Michael Ayuyao followed on 2nd with some basic 3A stuff while John Hernandez tried his best to keep up for 3A finishing 3rd.
Kyle Capiral won 2A again grabbing his 9th National title in consecutive years, followed by Kenneth Santiago on 2nd place with a clean freestyle and various looping tricks. Attempting some risky around the world tricks, Martin Desamito finished in 3rd place.
4A saw a new champion as former champion Sean Perez is back in the USA and 4A powerhouse player Rocky Loyola left for New Zealand. Hailing from Cavite, Macky Profeta blazed the crowd with an energetic and technical freestyle wowing the crowd and the judges (which could easily be dubbed as the Freestyle of the Day). Macky was crowned as the new 4A National Champion, followed by MagicYoYo’s Jaued Cervas who showed his versatility in other styles placing 2nd in 4A, while Jake Marcelo finished 3rd with a clean and classy routine which felt like a cool breeze of air.
5A and 1A became the most contested divisions for the year as new generation players showed great competition for the senior players of the Philippines.
5A had a surprising turnout of events as former 5A champion Jaued Cervas fell out of the podium. YoYofficer’s Paolo Alto showed great variety of bouncing counterweight partnered with an entertaining and smooth freestyle placing him in 3rd. Miggy Hizon of BlkSens placed his highest finish to date at 2nd place with a unique combination of tricks and amazing flow. Gaining back his title and grabbing his 7th National Title for 5A is Bryan Jardin of Duncan Toys. Bryan showed what it’s like to be a top world class player and gave 5A players a run for their money with technicality and banger tricks!
Finally, 1A saw the highest level of competition from all the past years. Majority of new generation players dropped out the senior players and made it through the finals.
Placing 3rd in 1A is first time National competitor Kyle Toribio from Davao who showed technical stuff with cleanliness and difficulty. Consistent 1A finalist, Matthew Garcia had his first podium finish placing 2nd with his smooth freestyle showing top class tricks and variety of hops, whips and lacerations. Reymark Zavalla gained his 5th National 1A Title through a technically-packed and overall entertaining and well-planned performance.
The PNYYC 2016 saw the most exciting players to date and we can’t wait to see what players can offer for the next contests!
Kyle Capiral
FlipSpin YoYo Komunidad
PNYYC
Here’s a glorious bit of yoyo history…a Russell yoyo commercial from one of their Coca-Cola campaigns in the Philippines in 1988!
Russell Promotions started as the international arm of Duncan Toys back in the 1940s, and eventually split off entirely. Russell partnered for decades with Coca-Cola, offering them some of the most effective and pervasive promotions ever run, and cementing Coca-Cola’s market share across the globe by using yoyos as a “fad toy” that required money + bottle caps to buy. Brilliant, right? With this tactic Russell sold more yoyos than any other company in the history of the industry. Not bad!
Joebert Flores is an amazing Filipino yoyo player (with the last name ‘Flores’ he’d better be, ha ha) who has finally landed a great sponsor..General Yo! Congrats to Joebert and General Yo, this looks like a great pick-up for both sides.
Check out Joebert’s latest video, also featuring Paolo Alto who recently got sponsored by YoYofficer. Congrats, guys!
Yoyos used are the General Yo Prophecy and Yoyofficer Rave.
The Philippines are a great place to be in love with yoyos. The island country was the last stop for the toy before it came to the United States in the 1920s, and has given the world some of the most iconic yoyo demonstrators of all time. Players like Pedro Flores, Gus Somera, and Nemo Concepcion turned the yoyo from a simple toy with roots dating all the way back to ancient Greece into an icon of entrepreneurship and ingenuity.
So when a player from the Philippines as talented as Joebert Flores sends us a video, you can bet we’re going to pass it along.
Yoyo used is the Chief by CLYW.
Philippines yoyo retailer Flipspin dropped a new promo video for Japan Technology’s offstring yoyo, Another Eagle, featuring 2014 Philippine National 4A Champion Rocky Loyola. The 4A field seems to really be picking up lately, and it’s well on its way to eclipsing the rest of the “sub styles” of competitive yoyo play. Rocky is in top form here with some great tricks…check it out!
Yoyo used is Another Eagle by Japan Technology.
Awesome crowd at PNYC 2014!
Results are in for this year’s Philippines National Yo-yo Contest!
Reymark Zavalla is still the champion in 1A, making him 3-time national champion! Kyle Capiral also repeated his great result from the past few years and grabbed his sixth (!!) national title!
John Eric Galicha won his first title in 3A, after finishing third last year. The country’s biggest winners in 4A and 5A – Sean Perez and Bryan Jardin – were absent this year due to their relocation to the US, clearing the path for Rocky Loyola in 4A, and Jaued Cervas in 5A. Jaued had last won his division in 2011.
Reymark also won the Battle of Champions, securing his trip to AP 2015 to represent the Philippines!
Videos will be up soon and we’ll post them here shortly!
Whaaaaaaaat!?
Check out this awesome 1A vs 5A battle video from the Philippines featuring Joebert Flores (1A) versus Paolo Alto (5A). So good!
Who wins? Cast your vote below!
Vote for 5A. VOTE FOR 5A!!!!!!!!!
On March 16th, the FlipSpin YoYo Club had a freestyle contest and yoyo meet as part of Viva Manila’s “Intramuros Pasyal” event. This video was shot that day, and is a great glimpse of the yoyo scene in the Philippines.
Thanks to Hiro Koba of Kitty String for the video!
The 2013 Philippines National Yo-yo Contest was held in Manila on November 10th, unfazed by typhoon Haiyan.
This year all defending champions successfully retained their titles!
In 1A, Crucial’s dancing wonder Reymark Zavalla got his second title in a row, ahead of Miguel Fernando and Joseph Junsay. 2A saw Kyle Capiral win once again to claim his sixth national title, Hiro “Kitty” Koba remains the king of Filipino 3A, Duncan’s hyperactive duo Sean Perez and Bryan Jardin also defended their titles in 4A and 5A, claiming their seventh (!!) and sixth titles, respectively.
Check the results below!
Check Hiro Koba’s YouTube channel for more freestyles!
Hiro from Kitty String posted this great video of Duncan Crew offstring superstar, Sean Perez! The interview portion is all in Tagalog, but if you don’t speak it you can skip ahead to 2:17 for the beginning of four minutes of outstanding yoyoing from Sean, who is a 6x Philippine National YoYo Champion.
We found this really nice write-up about the history of Pedro Flores on the local Coschocton Tribune website. Flores is buried in Coshocton, Ohio, where his wife, Edria Beatrice Myers Walters Flores Bainter, was born.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Someday, when you have nothing more important to do, take a walk through South Lawn Cemetery here and look for Section K, Lot 2.
There you’ll find Pedro Edralin Flores, owner of the first yo-yo manufacturing company in the U.S. Flores was responsible for leading this child’s toy, popularized in the states in the 1920s, to worldwide popularity.
According to the American Yo-Yo Association’s Hall of Fame, Flores is the father of the modern yo-yo. And according to Lucky Meisenheimer, author of “Lucky’s Collectors Guide to 20th Century Yo-Yos,” Flores contributed three important events in the yo-yo industry.
First, he popularized the toy, that is believed to have originated in China about 1000 B.C. Pictures of yo-yos have been found in Greece as well as in Asia as far back as about 2500 B.C.
Second, Flores modified the yo-yo so the string looped around the axle instead of being attached to it, allowing the yo-yo to spin. Third, the invention led to creative tricks and games, and that in turn led to yo-yo contests and events scheduled across the country. The popularity reached its peak worldwide in the 1960s.
Click below for the full article:
Team Crucial Philippines member Reymark Zavalla puts the oversized Crucial Jirorian through its paces in this quick video. I’m always amazed at people who can handle yoyos like this and the H5…my puny, shattered wrists wince just reading the specs.
The European Yo-yo Championship is approaching fast, and several players are already making their way to Budapest, but there’s another international event before the Old World’s clash. That’s the YoYoMafia Battle, in the Philippines.
The YoYoMafia Battle will be held on Saturday, February 16th, in Marikina City, just outside Manila. Most of the top players in the country are confirmed, as well as a few international guests, making this almost a smaller version of the Asia Pacific Championships!
We’ll be providing coverage and results from both contests, stay tuned!