The 2018 World YoYo Contest was held in Shanghai, China, and WOW what an event! It was the first time the contest has ever been held in China, and there was a ton of local talent hitting the Worlds stage for the first time ever.
CLYW had a smaller presence than usual this year. No booth, Silver sponsorship, and not a huge team presence. This has been a quiet year for us, and we decided it was best to focus on reorganizing the company and look ahead to a big presence at Worlds 2019 in Cleveland.
But man oh man, did our team make us proud in Shanghai! Andrew Maider really blew our minds as he took a prototype of our new competition return top, the Wildfire, all the way from Wild Card to Prelims to Semi-Finals and then to Finals….and he’d never used it before the day of Wild Card!! It was an absolutely incredible feat, to make the hardest run to Finals imaginable on a brand new throw with no prep time. We’re so incredibly proud of Andrew, and the feedback and changes he suggested to the Wildfire have guided the next round of prototypes, which we are working on now.
Taking a quick 2.5 hour flight from Japan, Ayumu Harada was seeded into Prelims thanks to a 4th Place finish at 2018 Japan Nationals. Ayumu managed to get himself from Prelims to Semi-Finals to Finals, culminating in an absolutely beautiful freestyle to “The Funeral” by Band of Horses…a song you might remember from one of Zach’s Worlds freestyles a few years back. Ayumu just keeps getting better and better, and we’re always excited to see him at the next event.
Coming in from the Czech Republic, team members Tomas Vyletal, Honza Votrubec, and Petr Kavka all showed up to soak up some humidity and get some time on the World stage. Petr was seeded into 1A Prelims but didn’t make it through to the next round, and Honza & Tomas both got stuck in 1A Wild Card, but Petr was seeded to Semi-Finals in 5A and showed off a really nice and slower paced routine that looked laid back and fantastic. (You can find Petr’s 1A Prelim on our InstagramTV!)
Team member Riccardo Fraolini was there but not competing, and he completed the perfect CLYW vibe…good times, good tricks, and always a smile and a big hug.
Yoyo contests are always big and flashy and exciting, but it’s seeing old friends that really make them the best. It’s the time spent between freestyles, goofing off and swapping tricks, high-fiving as you pass each other in the hallway as one of you runs for lunch and the other runs for the bathroom, and staying up until the wee hours of the morning, wandering around a strange city in search of drinks and snacks. Those are always the best times, and this year we managed to squeeze in plenty of them.
Thanks to all the organizers of the 2018 World YoYo Contest, and thanks to all the players who competed. Congrats to the winners, and we’ll see you soon at the next contest!