Yo-yo champion doesn't miss a trick
By Shayna Coleon
Advertiser Staff Writer
In one swift hand motion, Yuuki Spencer snapped his bright blue and yellow Duncan yo-yo yesterday into a spinning frenzy of intricate tricks — a Long Sleeper, Brain Twister and Man on a Flying Trapeze — to show off a combination he performed to become the first world yo-yo champ in Hawai'i.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
The 13-year-old Honolulu boy, who also won the Hawai'i State Single-Handed Championship in June, captured first place in the one-handed freestyle competition at the 2002 World Yo-Yo Championships last weekend in Orlando, Fla.
Yuuki Spencer shows off his yo-yo prowess at High Performance Kites at Ala Moana Center. The 13-year-old recently captured first place in the one-handed freestyle competition at the 2002 World Yo-Yo Championships.
"I was scared because it was my first time at World (Championships)," said Yuuki, who is also part of Team High Performance, an O'ahu yo-yo troupe consisting of 50 selected members.
Yuuki competed against 40 other contestants from as far away as Japan, Italy and Germany in the single-handed competition, where players had three minutes to do a freestyle performance to music. Yuuki said he did not practice before the competition, so all his yo-yo tricks were "spur of the moment."
The winners don't receive cash prizes, but Yuuki was given a bronze trophy of a kid swinging a yo-yo. In October, Yuuki will compete in the national championships in California.
