SASUKE2011冬 (SASUKE #26)
Tokyo Broadcasting System [TBS] broadcast date Sunday, January 2nd, 2011
Stage Results Overview
Competitors to clear 1ST Stage = 10
Competitors to clear 2ND Stage = 6
Competitors to clear 3RD Stage = 0
Competitors to clear FINAL Stage = 0
SASUKE #26 - Top 5 Results
The top 5 performances for this competition are listed by highest obstacle and then by competitior number.
SASUKE #26 - Commentators
SASUKE #26 - Course (Obstacle) Configuration
Total Obstacles = 23
Time Limit = 130 seconds
Time Limit = 95 seconds
Time Limit = none
Time Limit = 40 seconds
The 26th competition, official name: SASUKE2011謹賀新年 (literally: SASUKE 2011 Happy New Year) is the second tournament after Urushihara Yuuji's kanzenseiha in SASUKE 24. The tournament was recorded on October 19, 2010 and aired on January 2, 2011 as part of TBS' New Years Specials. Due to sharing a time slot with another show, the broadcast of the tournament was much shorter than previous tournaments, resulting in many competitor's runs getting either cut or digested.
For the second time in three tournaments, no domestic trials competition ever materialized. East of the Pacific, however, a second American Ninja Warrior competition was held (concluding the previous August), the first American trials since SASUKE 23, and similar to the first American Ninja Warrior, ten competitors were sent. For the first time ever, footage of a SASUKE competition hit the airwaves before the TBS broadcast; the ten Americans that qualified through the American trials had their runs shown in North America on December 23, 2010. A Taiwanese trials competition was also planned, but was subsequently canceled. Despite this, the venerable Li En Zhi was invited by TBS to compete.
Only three SASUKE All-Stars were able to attend this competition; Akiyama Kazuhiko, Shiratori Bunpei and Takeda Toshihiro all had prior engagements. Also notably absent was Levi Meeuwenberg, who qualified for the tournament but subsequently broke his wrist and had to be replaced.
Stage One was heavily modified from SASUKE 25. With the removal of the Rolling Maruta and Log Grip, this was the first ever competition not to feature a log obstacle. Only three obstacles -- the Soritatsu Kabe, Tarzan Rope and Rope Ladder -- returned from the previous tournament; the Jumping Spider and Half-Pipe Attack returned after a one-competition hiatus. Four brand new obstacles made their debuts. The Step Slider, Hazard Swing and Rolling Escargot began the stage and the Giant Swing added before the Tarzan Rope. The new obstacles did their damage; the Rolling Escargot eliminated at least 19 contestants, including top flight competitors such as Takahashi Kenji, Kanno Hitoshi, Miyazaki Daisuke and Yamamoto Shingo. Yamada Katsumi's return engagement did not go as he hoped as he failed the Jumping Spider in a remarkably similar fashion as SASUKE 22. Nagano Makoto also failed the Jumping Spider, meaning that no All-Star made it halfway through Stage One. The Giant Swing however, only eliminated one competitor. Shin Sedai's Sato Jun and Tajima Naoya were cut completely (although it is known Tajima failed the Jumping Spider) and Urushihara failed the Half Pipe Attack, meaning no former champion beat Stage One.
Ten people cleared Stage One. For the first time ever, more foreign competitors made it to Stage Two than domestic, giving the rest of the competition a decidedly international flavor and sparking some national pride from the Japanese competitors that remained. A record six foreigners passed Stage One, beating the old record of four which was set in SASUKE 23. Among the six were five Americans, which also beat the previous record of three, also set in SASUKE 23. American rookies Paul Kasemir and Brent Steffensen joined sophomores Travis Furlanic and David Campbell as first-time Stage Two competitors, along with SASUKE veterans Brian Orosco and Taiwan's Li En Zhi. Domestically, Ishikawa Terukazu, Iketani Naoki, Okuyama Yoshiyuki and Hashimoto Koji cleared.
Stage Two remained unmodified from the last competition. Iketani, who has competed sporadically over the last few years, hadn't cleared Stage One since SASUKE 16. He was erased by the Double Salmon Ladder, as was Ishikawa. The Balance Tank claimed Furlanic while another old favorite, the Metal Spin, eliminated Hashimoto. Paul Kasemir, Brent Steffenson,and David Campbell all cleared Stage Two, doing so in their first attempts. Brian Orosco and Li En Zhi also cleared. Okuyama Yoshiyuki was the only Japanese competitor to pass this stage, doing so with a mere three tenths of a second remaining.
The Third Stage introduced one new obstacle, Cycling Road, replacing the Floating Boards. The Roulette Cylinder was modified to include two drops into the track, much like when the Rolling Maruta morphed into the Sandan Rolling Maruta. While rookie Kasemir failed the Doorknob Grasper, Orosco failed the Roulette Cylinder, marking the first time he did not make it past his previous failure point. Campbell, Steffenson, Li and Okuyama all made it to the feared Ultimate Cliffhanger. While progress was made, little more than half the obstacle was cleared with Li making it the farthest and the tournament ended here.
This article uses material from the "SASUKE_26" article on the SASUKEPEDIA wiki at Wikia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
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