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!