King of the Spin


Hall of Fame


2017 King: Lim Aik Hwee
2016 King: Lim Aik Hwee
2015 King: Colin Wan
2014 King: Wong Weida
2013 King: Colin Wan
2012 King: Darrell Mitchell

The idea for the 2017 King of the Spin tournament was to make it concise, quick and rather BRUTAL!

Everyone knows King of the Spin isn’t some serious competition (And we really hope it never will be) coz yo-yos are really just all about having fun. Yet, players who have taken part in King of the Spin in the past, constantly come back wanting to be crowned King. The bragging rights for this is real!

For 2017, we probably had the biggest participation thus far. 33 players signed up. They are:
1) Kenneth Bay
2) Hafiq Hairuddin
3) Lee Wei Ting
4) Khoo Kian Chew
5) Muhd I’zzun
6) Thawhir Iqbal
7) Karthik Devaraj
8) Chong Yichen
9) Sherman Sam
10) Muhd Yasier
11) Sciran Vikneswaran
12) Ian Loh
13) Ryan Lim
14) Zen Lim
15) Masanobu Iwata
16) Kendrick Hu
17) Joseph Wong
18) Tan Yao Kun
19) Abel Tan
20) Seth Ang
21) Yong Ler
22) Brandon
23) Goh Kai Wei
24) Thanan
25) Marcus Koh
26) Radley
27) Colin Wan
28) Sean Hung
29) Lim Aik Hwee
30) Teo Zhekai
31) Cheong Meng Wei
32) Koh Yang Jie
33) Brian Low

Without wasting any time, the first round was a sneaky one. We got all participants get their favourite metal yo-yo and have them do a very simple Forward Pass. Many were a little stunned, and unsure on how to go about do it. Some players were quick to catch onto the technique to get it done.

Competitors moving on after Round One were:
1) Kenneth Bay
2) Hafiq Hairuddin
3) Lee Wei Ting
4) Khoo Kian Chew
5) Muhd I’zzun
6) Thawhir Iqbal
7) Karthik Devaraj
8) Muhd Yasier
9) Sciran Vikneswaran
10) Ian Loh
11) Ryan Lim
12) Zen Lim
13) Masanobu Iwata
14) Kendrick Hu
15) Tan Yao Kun
16) Abel Tan
17) Brandon
18) Goh Kai Wei
19) Thanan
20) Marcus Koh
21) Radley
22) Colin Wan
23) Sean Hung
24) Lim Aik Hwee
25) Teo Zhekai
26) Koh Yang Jie
27) Brian Low

Following this simple trick, the next Elimination Round was a tricky 1A trick that is straight forward to understand, but difficult to execute if you were not consistent. The trick was a simple 1A Quadruple or Nothing. Some nerves were on display here, but nonetheless a significant group moved on!

1) Kenneth Bay
2) Lee Wei Ting
3) Khoo Kian Chew
4) Thawhir Iqbal
5) Sciran Vikneswaran
6) Ian Loh
7) Kendrick Hu
8) Tan Yao Kun
9) Abel Tan
10) Thanan
11) Marcus Koh
12) Radley
13) Colin Wan
14) Sean Hung
15) Lim Aik Hwee

Next up, another basic trick that players who long to be King are definitely expected to know. For this round, the participants was provided a Loop 360 yo-yo to perform this trick. The trick was Loop the Loop x30. Surprisingly, this trick further knocked more players out.

Remaining were:
1) Lee Wei Ting
2) Ian Loh
3) Thanan
4) Colin Wan
5) Sean Hung
6) Lim Aik Hwee

So we were down to the ‘Quarter-Final’ round with 6 remaining. The trick another simple trick, but with a difficult yo-yo to use. We provided a Legend Wing with a used, full-length string and the remaining 6 were required to do a Trapeze with Flyaway dismount on it. First with their dominant hand, then with their non-dominant hand. All 6 hit their dominant hand Trapeze, but the non-dominant hand Trapeze caused problems for a couple of them. After this round, we were left with only 4 participants. Noticeably, this round knocked out 2-time King, Colin, as well as new-comer, and first time participant, Thanan!

1) Lee Wei Ting
2) Ian Loh
3) Sean Hung
4) Lim Aik Hwee

Next-up was the ‘Semi-Final’ round. we brought out one of our favourite King of the Spin yo-yos, the Ignite. The trick the competitors had to do this round was TOUGH! They had to land an Offstring Toss and Catch with the Ignite. Only 2 can move on to the Finals. With this trick, on the first attempt, everyone except Aik hwee failed. So Aik Hwee was guaranteed a Finals spot. The only other player than managed to hit the trick was a fellow Offstring player, Sean Hung.

So the Final showdown was:
Lim Aik Hwee VS Sean Hung

Aik Hwee was defending his King title, and Sean was a worthy challenger. The final trick was again to be done on the Ignite. The 2 players had to perform this final trick in the Penalty Shootout format, each given 5 tries to hit the trick and the one who has the highest score would win.

The trick was Bank Deposit. An old school trick that required lots of control and accuracy. Neither Aik Hwee nor Sean was ready for this trick and it was their first time trying it.

Not surprisingly after the first round, the score was still 0-0. But on the second round, Aik Hwee managed to hit a rather clean Bank Deposit and he took the lead.

Rounds 3 and 4 were close for Sean, but hitting the yo-yo into the pockets still eluded him. Aik Hwee narrowly missed his Round 4 attempt as well.

So it was all down to Sean’s last Round 5 attempt. If he hit it, score would be tied up. If he missed, Aik Hwee would have successfully defended his title.

The tension was high, pressure was high but Sean was used to sure pressure.

The attempt was thrown, the yo-yo swung around his leg, on course for his pocket, yet the yo-yo narrowly missed going into his pocket by mere centimetres!

And with that, Aik Hwee managed to defend his title and was crowned the 2017 King of the Spin!

Congratulations Aik Hwee for winning, and being the only one to successfully defend, the King of the Spin title! Thanks to all the players who took part again this year, and we will see you next year!

Every year, there can only be ONE winner at King of the Spin. So once again at the final SHOWCASE of the year, we ran this annual contest to find out who is KING for the year till the next contest. A brief introduction to King of the Spin, Spinners sign up not knowing what they need to do in the contest until each event is announced. So this allows Spinners from different skill levels to participate and stand a chance of winning, whilst having a fun time. Tricks are not crazy technical or difficult, but the main focus is on fun and consistency. So let us take you through how the King of the Spin 2016 went down!

At the start, there were 28 participants that signed up for King of the Spin 2016:
1) Chris Lee
2) Chia Meng Leong
3) Brandon Sommer
4) Koh Yang Jie
5) Jeremy Tan
6) Muhd I’zzun
7) Thawhir Iqbal
8) Masanobu Iwata
9) Karthik Devaraj
10) Jia Wei
11) Kent Lim
12) Joseph Wong
13) Kai Wei
14) Wayn Ooi
15) Muhd Yasier
16) Darius Lim
17) Preston Lim
18) Hafiq Hairuddin
19) Colin Wan
20) MC Cheng
21) Brian Low
22) Chong Yichen
23) Sean Hung
24) Lim Aik Hwee
25) Zen Lim
26) Ryan
27) Ian Loh
28) Cheong Meng Wei

For the first round of battle, we did a quick warm-up round whereby all 28 competitors had to throw a long Sleeper and keep it spinning as long as possible whilst trying to prevent other competitors from stopping their yo-yos! It was a fun and exciting warm up and everyone was then ready for the Consistency Rounds!

First Elimination Consistency Round was to do the first few Spinworkx Challenge tricks (Gravity Pull, Forward Pass, Rock the Baby, Trapeze, Shoot the Moon) but the catch was they only had ONE attempt at the trick, and they are not able to test the yo-yo before attempting the trick. During this first round, quite a number of players managed to survive and move on to the next round without much difficulty, but the majority were cut off on the Trapeze and Shoot the Moon.

Competitors moving on were:
1) Jun Wei
2) Jeremy Tan
3) Chris Lee
4) Lim Aik Hwee
5) Joseph Wong
6) Chong Yichen
7) Thawhir Iqbal
8) Masanobu Iwata
9) Colin Wan
10) Sean Hung

Following this tough trick, the next Elimination Consistency Round was a weak-hand Challenge Round. To progress, competitors had to hit 3 different tricks on their weaker hand (Braintwister, Trapeze and Eli Hop). Clearly the 3A players had a slight edge for this challenge but even then, it wasnt a walk in the park. Weak-hand tricks are always fun to do to challenge yourself on how well you understand the trick, and this is exactly what went down. Following this, more players were eliminated. Sean was knocked-out on Weak-hand Trapeze and Jun Wei was eliminated on Weak-hand Eli Hops. Colin (2-time King of the Spin) was also eliminated on Weak-hand Eli Hops, and the remaining competitors breathed a sigh of relief at the elimination of one of their most formidable opponents!

From here on out, every trick that the competitors did, they only had ONE attempt!

Competitors remaining:
1) Jeremy Tan
2) Chris Lee
3) Lim Aik Hwee
4) Joseph Wong
5) Chong Yichen
6) Masanobu Iwata
7) Thawhir Iqbal

Next trick for the Consistency Challenge was yet another different style of play, Offstring! Trick was the Offstring Whip, yet another familiar trick from past years. This time, the Offstring Whip knocked out yet another 2 strong competitors, Joseph Wong and special guest, Masanobu Iwata.

Competitors remaining:
1) Jeremy Tan
2) Chris Lee
3) Lim Aik Hwee
4) Chong Yichen
5) Thawhir Iqbal

Next Elimination Consistency Round was the Fixed Axle Trapeze on a Duncan Ignite. Tough trick that has recurred almost every year for King of the Spin. After this trick, only 1 player was eliminated.

Competitors remaining:
1) Jeremy Tan
2) Chris Lee
3) Lim Aik Hwee
4) Chong Yichen

Down to the wire, the top 4 remains and the tricks arent getting any easier. The next trick was a classic trick from Hyper yoyo days. 30x Loop the Loop. Seeing how the remaining 4 players are all veterans in the freestyle contest scene, this trick shouldnt be too tough. Yet, this trick knocked out old-school player Yichen and Hypebeast Jeremy Tan, leaving the FINAL 2!

Finalists:
1) Chris Lee
2) Lim Aik Hwee

For the very last trick, it was going to be conducted in a ‘Penalty-Shooutout’ style. 5 tricks each player and the player who hits it the most times wins. The trick was to do a simple Trapeze, with a responsive yo-yo, blindfolded with Flyaway Dismount. Chris VS Aik Hwee.

First 4 Blindfolded Trapeze for both competitors, no problem. Both of them hit the trick clean and the score was 4-4.

But on the last Blindfolded Trapeze, Chris hit the trick but failed to catch following the Flyaway Dismount.

Aik Hwee, with nerves of steel, hit the trick clean as if it was just a regular stroll through the park. Real close final battle (5 – 4) between Chris and Aik Hwee. Yet another exciting King of the Spin finale this year.

And there you have it, the 2016 King of the Spin, yo-yo legend and superstar, Lim Aik Hwee!
Congratulations Aik Hwee for winning the King of the Spin contest, and thank you to all the competitors who took part. Hope everyone had a great time!