Congratulations to Takuma Yamamoto, winner of the 2A division at the 2019 World YoYo Contest!
Full results below, and video of the rest of the division here: 2019 World YoYo Contest 2A Division
YoYo Related News From Around The World
By Steve Brown
Congratulations to Takuma Yamamoto, winner of the 2A division at the 2019 World YoYo Contest!
Full results below, and video of the rest of the division here: 2019 World YoYo Contest 2A Division
By Steve Brown
Congratulations to Takuma Yamamoto on winning the 2A Division of the 2018 Japan National YoYo Contest! Check out full results and video of the top 3 winners below.
If you missed the live stream from Japan Nationals yesterday, you missed the most professionally produced yo-yo contest broadcast in history!
Live comments from some of the best players in Japan, and clips from each players’ preliminary round and previous contests freestyles made this a very enjoyable contest to watch, even if NicoNico’s video quality was not quite on par with Ustream.
On to the results, where we had heated battles between the World’s greatest players!
In 1A, in a somewhat unexpected — but not at all surprising — outcome, 5A World Champion Takeshi Matsuura beat last year’s champion Akitoshi Tokubuchi to claim the title! This makes him the unbelievable winner of three different divisions in the history of Japan Nationals, including five 5A titles and the 2010 3A title! Third place in 1A went to Yusuke Otsuka, who had a great freestyle at the EYYC Open division earlier this year.
World Champion Takuma Yamamoto won the incredibly strong 2A division this year, with a smooth freestyle, finishing over 10 points ahead of Shu Takada. Third place went to Ryo Yamashita, and just to give you a glimpse of how strong the division was, it also had Hiraku Fujii, Yasushi Furukawa, and history’s biggest World Title winner Shinji Saito in the final round. Shinji had a strong preliminary round, but was unable to go as cleanly in his final routine.
In 3A, Hajime Miura showed solid improvement over last year’s 8th place, and took the title with unquestionable confidence and skill. In the words of Drew Tetz: someone should tell this kid that 3A is supposed to be hard!
Rei Iwakura won 4A with a jaw-dropping routine, finishing 15 points ahead of Kazuaki Sugimura. Rei once again showed us what makes a great stage performance without sacrificing technique! Like at Worlds last year, some of the favorites had some yo-yo changes and ended up with low scores, like Futoshi Maruyama (3 drops, -9) and Naoto Okada (4 drops, -12).
The fiercest and most expected battle was in 5A, where Takuma Inoue and Takeshi Matsuura once again made us wonder if there’s any limit to their skills, with both players finishing over twenty points ahead of the third place. This time, an unfortunate yo-yo change by Takeshi meant Takuma Inoue finished ahead to claim his third National Title!
On to the results and winner videos, courtesy of C3yoyodesign!
By Steve Brown
As we gear up for the 2013 World Yo-Yo Contest, we take a step back to appreciate and admire the greats of years past. We will be posting the top 5 in each division in the weeks leading up to the World Yo-Yo Contest.
From the earliest days of yoyo demonstrators, beginning with the Flores YoYo Company in the 1920s, two-handed yoyo play was set as the pinnacle of skill. Demonstrators would whip out a pair of yoyos and kids’ jaws would drop and their parents wallets would open…it was the ultimate demonstration of mastery. With the intense development of 1A and the invention and popularization of the alternate styles, two-handed looping has lost its mystique a bit…but the top levels of play are nothing short of staggering. Two-handed looping remains one of the most visually stunning forms of yoyoing, and while the skill barrier for this division gets higher every year, those who have put in the time and work to master it continue to blow minds every year.
5. Matt Harlow –
Known for his blistering speed which shattered and destroyed many yo-yos and snapped equally as many strings, Matt infamously snapped a string one year and World YoYo Contest judge Dennis McBride took a yoyo at full speed, right in the chest. (In Dennis’ credit, he shook it off and kept clicking, establishing for all time that he was secretly a superhero.) Back when 2A was the measure of a great yo-yo player, Matt took the top spot at the World level. Matt brought a lot to the double looping division when wraps were just being introduced and tangler combos were in their infant stages.
4. Hiraku Fujii –
A staple in the 2A division for almost a decade, Hiraku has taken the top spot at Japan Nationals numerous times as well as consistently winning his Regional competition. His technical skill and choreography have remained superb for years. Once again, Hiraku could not top Shinji’s dominance, but his longevity in the division, placing third at the World contest in 2012, earns him a spot on the list.
3. Takuma Yamamoto –
The only person to put a blemish on the list of accomplishments of Shinji Saito, Takuma Yamamoto immediately earned a spot as one of the greatest. His technical 2A is unmatched today, above and beyond the best in the world right now, and his recent double-digit win at Japan Nationals only proves that notion. With several more National titles to back his 2008 World title in which he beat Shinji, Takuma is still a fiercely competitive 2A player moving forward.
2. Koji Yokoyama –
Koji will be the highest ranked player to never win a world title—stymied by the greatness of Shinji. But it is undeniable, Koji was one of the most electrifying performers and toughest competitors. With an unmatched eight second place finishes in 2A on the World stage, Koji Yokoyama demonstrated great creativity and passion for the sport while maintaining runner-up for almost a decade and some would argue deserved the top spot in 2007. Winning the title at Japan Nationals and Asia Pacific only adds to this man’s great legacy.
1. Shinji Saito –
Were you expecting anyone else? The single most dominant yo-yo player of all time. His near perfect record only speaks to his greatness. Technically skilled, innovative and overall endlessly entertaining—eight 2A World titles to show for it—Shinji Saito is the all-time greatest 2A player and has a strong argument for the greatest yo-yoer of all time. Period.
Honorable Mentions: Yasushi Furukawa (World Champion), Shu Takada (World Champion), John Ando (4x National Champion), Patrick Mitchell (2x National Champion)
Who do you think are the greatest 2A players of all time? Feel free to post your thoughts below!
As a reminder, these rankings take into consideration competitive players from around 2000 and on.
The 2013 Japan National Yo-yo Contest is over!
YoyoRecreation’s Akitoshi Tokubuchi, who was the first runner-up last year, stepped up his game and is the 2013 Japan National Champion, beating Tatsuya Fujisaka by a hefty five point margin and Hiroyuki Suzuki by over ten points!
In 2A, 2008 world champion Takuma Yamamoto beat Shu Takada and Ryo Yamashita for first place with a smooth freestyle and ended up over twenty points ahead of the second place!
The former world champion battle in 3A ended up with Minato Furuta ahead of Kentaro Kimura for first place, showing he’s ready to take back the world title later this year.
Rei Iwakura took the title in 4A ahead of Naoto Okada in another contest between world champions.
Finally, in 5A, the newer generation dominated the top placings with Takeshi Matsuura convincingly beating Sora Ishikawa and the world’s cutest player, Yoshihiro Abe, for first place.
Check the full results below:
Thanks to C3yoyodesign and mrmatio for the freestyle videos!
Day 1 of Japan Nationais is over in Nagoya! A few of the crowd favorites did not make it, but there are plenty of big names competing for the national title!
In 1A, the favorite is no doubt the current world champion Hiroyuki Suzuki, but team C3’s newest addition, former world champion Shinya Kido, and former national champions Tatsuya Fujisaka and Ryosuke Iwasawa won’t make Mickey’s life easy.
2A also sees the current world champion, Shu Takada, facing a former world title holder, Takuma Yamamoto, and a former national champion, Ryo Yamashita.
More former world champions will battle it out in the incredibly strong 3A division, with Kentaro Kimura facing Minato Furuta.
Even more world champions face off in the 4A division. 2012 world champion Rei Iwakura will have a tough time ahead competing against Naoto Okada and Tsubasa Onishi.
Finally in the 5A division, you got it: another world champion! Takeshi Matsuura is the sole world title holder and by far the favorite in this division.
This the order of the final freestyles:
This year’s South Japan regional contest saw very little surprises at the final placings, with strong players taking the top spot.
In 1A, YoyoRecreation’s Akitoshi Tokubuchi won for the second time in a row, followed by sOMEThING’s young newcomer Touya Kobayashi.
2A, 3A and 5A were won by the former World Champions Takuma Yamamoto, Minato Furuta and Takuma Inoue, respectively, all with perfect technical execution scores. Hideo Ishida, who had won the 5A division five times in a row, ended up in second place.
Finally in 4A, 2008 winner Shotaro Masuda is back to the top. Check the final placings:
1A
2A
3A
4A
5A
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