Asia Pacific Yo-Yo Championships facts for kids

The Asia Pacific Yo-Yo Championships (often called AP) is a super exciting yo-yo competition held in Asia. It's one of the biggest and best yo-yo events in the region!

This championship started in 2003 and is organized by a company called Spinworkx from Singapore. Over the years, it has grown a lot. Yo-yo players from all over Asia come to compete. They get to show off their amazing skills, learn new tricks from world champions, and even share tips with each other. This helps everyone get better at yo-yoing!

Yo-Yo Styles and Divisions

Since 2011, the AP Championships have 5 main divisions. Each division uses a different style of yo-yo play. This means players compete in categories that match their special skills.

1A: Single Unresponsive Yo-Yo

In the 1A division, players use just one special yo-yo. This yo-yo is called "unresponsive." It means the yo-yo doesn't automatically come back up when you tug the string. Players have to do a special trick called a "bind" to make it return to their hand.

2A: Double Responsive Yo-Yos

The 2A division is for players who use two yo-yos at the same time! These are "responsive" yo-yos, which means they come back up easily with a tug. This style is known for being one of the hardest because you have to control two yo-yos doing different tricks at once.

3A: Double Unresponsive Yo-Yos

Like 2A, the 3A division also uses two yo-yos. But in this style, both yo-yos are "unresponsive." This means players need to do "bind" tricks for both yo-yos to bring them back up. It's a very advanced and tricky style!

4A: Off-String Yo-Yo

The 4A division is called "Off-string." This is super cool because the yo-yo is not actually tied to the string! Players use a special, larger yo-yo that they throw into the air and catch on the string. They can even use more than one off-string yo-yo in their performance.

5A: Freehand Yo-Yo

In the 5A division, also known as "Freehand" or "Counterweight," players use one unresponsive yo-yo. But here's the twist: instead of the string being tied to their finger, it has a special weight attached to the end. This weight lets players do amazing tricks where the yo-yo and the counterweight move independently.

Championship Years

The Asia Pacific Yo-Yo Championships have been held almost every year since 2003.

• 2003: 3 divisions
• 2004-2008: 4 divisions
• 2010-2019: 5 divisions

The competition has grown, adding more divisions as yo-yo styles became more popular.

Medal Winners (2003-2019)

Many different countries have won medals at the AP Yo-Yo Championships. Japan has won the most gold, silver, and bronze medals over the years. Singapore, the Philippines, and China have also won many medals.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Japan (JPN)	49	33	28	110
2	Singapore (SIN)	7	19	10	36
3	Philippines (PHI)	3	3	2	8
4	China (CHN)	3	2	3	8
5	Hong Kong (HKG)	2	7	11	20
6	Indonesia (INA)	2	2	1	5
7	Thailand (THA)	2	1	2	5
8	South Korea (KOR)	1	0	4	5
9	Chinese Taipei (TPE)	0	1	4	5
10	Vietnam (VIE)	0	1	1	2
11	Malaysia (MAS)	0	0	3	3
Totals (11 entries)		69	69	69	207

Countries That Compete

Only players from the Asia-Pacific region can compete in these championships. Many countries send their best yo-yo players to the event.

Prizes for Winners

The top three players in each division receive prizes.

• 1st place: 500 SGD (Singapore Dollars)
• 2nd place: 300 SGD
• 3rd place: 100 SGD

Past Champions

Many talented yo-yo players have won titles at the Asia Pacific Yo-Yo Championships. These champions are known for their incredible skill and dedication to yo-yoing.

1A Champions

Hiroyuki Suzuki from Japan is a legendary 1A player, winning many times. Other notable champions include Christopher Chia and Marcus Koh from Singapore, Ahmad Kharisma Luhur from Indonesia, Shion Araya from Japan, and Garbkamol Limangkul from Thailand.

2A Champions

In the 2A division, Japanese players like Koji Yokoyama, Hiraku Fujii, and Shinji Saito have been very successful. Man-Ki Liu from Hong Kong and Yi Chenghao from China have also won this challenging division.

3A Champions

The 3A division has seen champions like Kentaro Kimura, Minato Furuta, Hajime Miura, and Taiichiro Higashi from Japan. Chak-Wing Wong from China and Thawhir Iqbal from Singapore have also claimed titles in this double unresponsive style.

4A Champions

For the 4A off-string division, Lim Aik Hwee from Singapore has won multiple times. Japanese players like Rei Iwakura, Tsubasa Onishi, and Naoto Onishi have also been champions. Ji-Hwan Jeon from South Korea and Tsubasa Takada from Japan are also past winners.

5A Champions

In the 5A freehand division, Makoto Numagami, Daijiro Akatsuka, Sojun Miyamura, Takeshi Matsuura, Naoya Takeuchi, Hideo Ishida, and Yoshihiro Abe from Japan have won titles. Muhammad Iskandar Shah from Singapore and Bryan Jardin and Jaued Cervas from the Philippines are also notable champions.

X Division (2003 Only)

In 2003, there was a special "X" division. This category included tricks that would later be split into the 3A, 4A, and 5A divisions. Eiji Okuyama from Japan was the winner of this unique division.

See also

• World Yo-Yo Contest
• European Yo-Yo Championship
• Latin American Yo-Yo Contest