Also take in consideration that he’s been placing in top three for more than 8 years (2002 freestyle, way different than he is now). Mickey is a player that reuses tricks for his freestyle. He may be making new tricks and displaying them but at worlds he seems to play it safe with old tricks. Judges must give him those points or else be deemed unfair. If Mickey pulls together everything he learned in the past eight years, he can finally start another streak starting with 2011.
Jensen Kimmitt not only has the tricks but also has the entertainment. Recently, he seems to be stuck in a player’s block. Jensen has flow, tech, simplicity, and most of all… a beard (face it, those tricks don’t win titles; the beard does all the work)…jk. It’s pretty unsure whether he will be competing this year. If I recall, he described his 2010 journey as
I went to YoYoFactory with self-promotion in mind. I knew that making the switch from CLYW to YYF would make a big splash for 2010 and I needed all the help I could get if I was going to win worlds. In the end, YoYoFactory did a great job promoting me, but I was starting to feel detached from the fun of just yo-yoing. I got caught up in winning contests and looking cool or something. That’s not me. I’m just a guy who likes to yo-yo and make people laugh. So, I’m gonna go do that.
By the sound of this, he’s satisfied with his title from last year and if he does compete, it will be just like Yuuki’s 2010, putting up a show for the crowd and having fun. Jensen is a wild card so to speak.
Christopher Chia beat Mickey at the Asia Pacific, a contest Mickey usually dominates. He’s tough to beat with his sideways style behind the back, style that will impress the judges.
Luo Yi Cheng is just one clean freestyle from possibly taking a title.
Paul Kerbel is better than people take him. He just needs to keep a cool nerve on stage.
Gentry Stein is one of this year’s players that has been ripping it up in the west coast. It’s no doubt that he’ll do well in Nationals. Worlds? He’s also a wild card.
World’s 1A is a very unpredictable division. I remember when I was watching worlds 2009 and I was quite surprised that Shinya Kido took the title. He’s placed at around the 8th area for the past few years before that. This year’s talent is very tightly packed and the competition is tough. It comes down to who has the nerves, who gets that clean freestyle they desire, and who has the best preparation mentally and physically.
Expect a very close year at worlds.
~Spin On!