2009 WSSA Japan Sport Stacking Championships Wrap-up
Sunday, March 15th was the scene for this year's national Sport Stacking tournament, the 2009 WSSA Japan Sport Stacking Championships. Almost one hundred stackers ranging in age from 4 to 71 joined in the day's exciting competition.

Stackers from Hokkaido to Kyushu and everywhere between, including Aomori, Gifu, Aichi-ken and all over the Kanto region came to enter this years championships, sanctioned by the World Sport Stacking Association (WSSA). International participants from many countries around the globe represented some of the Kanto area's international schools in fierce competition stacking against the clock. The winners in each division took home trophies, medals and ribbons because of their stacking excellence. (See complete results here.)

Top Stacker
12-year-old Sota Takamori captured the title of Top Stacker (Individual Overall Winner) for 2009 with a combined time of 14.13 in the 3-3-3, 3-6-3 and Cycle stacks. By taking the number one position, he wins a trip to the U.S. to compete in the 2009 WSSA World Sport Stacking Championships to be held April 18-19 in Denver, Colorado. Congratulations and good luck in Denver, Sota!

Fast Stacking
Under the watchful eye of judges and with cameras zoomed in to capture every move, stackers in all divisions tried to break not only their own personal records, but to set National and World Records in this fast growing sport.

The championship's fastest 3-3-3 stack was won by 18-year-old Akari Seo, whose time of 2.52 seconds shot her to 1st place in the 15-18 age division, narrowly beating out Katsura Tamamushi's impressive 2.69 seconds in the same division. Yutaka Yamazaki followed closely with a time of 2.71 to secure a first place title in the Master's division while setting a new national record in the Masters 1 division!

Sota Takamori showed his scorching speed with the fastest 3-6-3 stack of the day, securing a first place in the 10-12 year old division with 2.97 seconds while setting a new national record in the 12 year old division. Last year's overall winner, Tsuyoshi Seo, earned a top spot in the Collegiate division with 3.00 seconds, followed by Keishin Mori with 3.02 to take first place in the 8-9 year old division and adding another division national record to his belt!

In the Cycle stack, setting not only a new overall Japan record, but also breaking the division (12 year old) world record was Sota Takamori. In the final round, Sota outstacked everyone with a blinding time of 7.13 seconds to take home the gold trophy! Keishin Mori swept his division and set another national record for his division (9 year old) in the Cycle with 9.00 seconds flat. Akari Seo collected more hardware with a gold trophy (15-18 division) with a time of 9.11 seconds. Great stacking everyone!

An event that debuted at last year's championships, the Timed 3-6-3 Relay proved to be a favorite once again. Setting a new Japan record in the 7 & under division was the 4 person team of the Thunderbirds with a time of 29.93 seconds. Team of Tower broke their own national record in the Open division (19 & above) with a time of 17.93 seconds. Congratulations to all the relay teams who competed!

Another yearly favorite among both stackers and spectators was the Doubles competition. The father-daughter team of Takashi and Yuka Maeda were honored with not only a gold medal, but a new Japan record (11.80) in the Child/Parent division. The team of Ren Abe & Salik Akhtar set a new record in the 7 & under division with a time of 22.75. Stacking together in the 12 & under division, Keishin Mori & Sota Takamori made the Japan record books with a time of 11.41 in the Doubles cycle and James Moore & Yutaka Yamazaki captured the gold and broke the national record in the Masters 1 division with a winning time of 12.50. Great teamwork everyone!

New Records Set
Many other Japan National Records were set throughout the day, including 3-3-3 Stack times for Keishin Mori (3.31 - 9 year old division), Nastia Copin (3.03 - 11 year old division), Ryosuke Ito (2.83 - Collegiate) and Kenji Hayasaka (3.03 - Masters 2).

In the 3-6-3 Stack, new records were acheived by Tsuyoshi Seo (3.00 - Collegiate), James Moore (3.30 - Masters 1), Takashi Maeda (3.78 - Masters 2) and Tamiko Sato (6.19 - Seniors).

Cycle Stack times were recorded for Ichigo Kohi (14.30 - 6 year old division), Soya Ooki (12.83 - 7 year old division), Yutaka Yamazaki (9.27 - Masters 1) and Kenji Hayasaka (11.22 - Masters 2). Congratulations everyone!

Doubles competition also brought the record winning time of 15.19 for Hitomi Iwanaga & Kenji Hayasaka in the Masters 2 division.

In the Timed 3-6-3 Relay, Team Speed Star (12 and under - 20.40) Team 3-6-3 (11 and under - 21.08) and Team Blue Fruit (9 and under - 27.00) set new national records for Japan!

Congratulations and Special Thanks!
We want to extend our sincere thanks to all the volunteers and judges who made this tournament such a great success! Also, a very special thank you to friends and family who came out to support and encourage your stackers on this fun and exciting day!

Congratulations to ALL Sport Stackers who competed and thank you and all of our volunteers for making this year's 2009 championships such a great success. Start practicing now and see you again next year for the 2010 WSSA Japan Sport Stacking Championships!

*Note: All Japan National and World Records are pending video review and approval by the World Sport Stacking Association International.

(Do you have photos from the Championships you would like to share with us? Please send them to us here!)