2012 Beyblade World Championship

Beyblade 2012 World Championships — Insignia.

The BEYBLADE World Championship was a worldwide Beyblade championship that first launched in 2011. It concluded on Sunday, March 25, 2012 at Corus Quay in Toronto, Canada.

While similar to the previous world championship held in 2004, it was based off of the Metal Saga while following the same general format. Bladers from countries all over the world compete in various tournaments and the winning Bladers becomes the representative of their aforementioned country. They were then sent to one location, Toronto in Canada, where the No. 1 Blader in the world was crowned.

In the end, the Japanese representative, Ryo, won the championship and was crowned the title as the "No. 1 Blader in the World." The United States representative, Zakiah, came in 2nd Place, while the Philippine representative, Neil, ended in 3rd Place.

History

The world championship was announced on March 22, 2011 by The Wall Street Journal in a post provided by Alexandra Cheney; published at 10:00 P.M. EST. One such paragraph, included this information.

“

There are also tournaments at every level, from regional play, which will begin late summer, to the national level, where winners will be sent to Comic Con New York in October, to the World Beyblade Championships, which will be held in spring 2012. At the world forum, 22 countries will be participating, with similar time frames and competition levels.

”

As time passed, more information surfaced, such as one instance where Hasbro has said and quote, "players will have the oppurtunity to compete head-to-head against the greatest Beybladers from around the world in the premiere World BEYBLADE Championship! A series of local BEYBLADE tournaments in each market and virtual battles in BeybladeBattles.com will test players' skills and strategy as they represent their region in this unique global competition."

According to The Wall Street Journal, 40 countries would be participating and 10 winners will be sent to Toronto at Corus Quay on March 23, 2012; to face off and battle to become the best Beyblader in the world. The 10 winners would be changed to accomodate 25 winners to face off in the final battle, as well as move the event from March 23rd to March 25th.

During the course of the tournaments, parts that were not yet released outside of Asia were banned. At the time, it was the then-new 4D System. At the championship, red BeyLaunchers, or String Launchers, were also given or lent to players from outside Asia to even out the battles, since Hasbro had failed to make this must-have powerful launcher widely available.

Dates

Beyblade Battle Series

California on August 13, at Kmart
Dallas, Texas on August 27, at Walmart
Miami, Florida on September 10, at Walmart
New York, New York on September 24, at Javits Center
Bohemia, New York on September 17, at Kmart
Totawa, New Jersey on September 24, at Toys R Us

Louisville Kentucky on September 12, at Target

Worldwide

Germany: May 28, 2011 at all Toys R Us for Kids Day
France: Late October at KidExpo 2011
Italy: February 2011 in its capital, Rome.
Finals: March 23, 2012 at Corus Quay in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

List of countries and methods of selection

Canada: The representative was chosen based on a random draw from the Canadian players with the highest numbers of points on the alternate-reality-Beyblade-simulator BeybladeBattles.com.
United States: A series of qualifications were held in a total of seven states during the months of August, September and October: San Jose, California (August 6th); Temple City, CA (August 13th); Dallas, Texas (August 27th); Miami, Florida (September 10th); Bohemia, New York (September 17th); Totowa, New Jersey (September 24th changed to 25th due to weather); New York, NY (October 15th). These qualifiers were not actually held by Hasbro; the latter hired a company to organise its events in their place, and the tournaments were held in association with some important stores such as Toys "R" Us, Wal-Mart and K-Mart, who mostly only offered them a place in their parking lot. The national championship qualifier tournament was held in New York, NY on October 16th, at the Javits Center. Each Californian qualification as well as the Bohemia and Totowa events sent only one winner to the national championship each, while the others sent two winners each, for a total of 10 participants to the US National Championships.
Mexico: A few qualifier tournaments were held in Mexico.
New Zealand: The representative was chosen based on a random draw on the New Zealand version of the BeybladeBattles.com site, similar to the Canadian representative.
Australia: The representative was chosen based on a random draw on the Australian version of the BeybladeBattles.com site, similar to the Canadian representative.
Indonesia: Several qualifiers were held in Indonesia.
Singapore: A few late qualifications were held in this country, which is why the representative does not appear on the official sites.
Philippines: Some qualifications were held.
Thailand: Some qualifications were held.
Hong Kong: Some qualifications were held.
Japan: Several rounds of qualifiers were organised in Japan: a first round that ended up being mixed with other Asian championships, such as the South Korean winner; a second round, at the World Hobby Fair 2011 Summer; and a final round at the World Hobby Fair 2012 Winter edition. The first two rounds separated the participants into two groups : Junior Class and Regular Class. In the final round, however, both classes were mixed to crown one final Japanese representative. This system allowed more opportunities for Japanese fans to be able to participate in regional qualifications, and it kept up their interest for several months.
Russia: Some qualifiers were held.
Turkey: Some qualifiers were held.
Baltic Countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania):
Slovenia:
Sweden: Some qualifiers were held.
Italy: Some qualifiers were held, but the champion never made it to the Beyblade World Championship.
Germany: A qualifier was held in every of the 20 ToysRus stores that existed at the time in Germany. The representative was chosen randomly among these winners.
Denmark: Some qualifiers were held.
Norway: Some qualifiers were held.
Belgium:
France: Some qualifiers were held.
Spain: Some qualifiers were held.
United Kingdom: One qualifier was organised but its advertisement was mediocre, so a very poor number of UK Bladers were aware of it, making a lot of potential champions miss their chance entirely.
Portugal: Some qualifiers were held.

Representatives

Ireland

Name: Cían
Age: 7
Bio: From Ireland. His favourite player is Tsubasa because he's the Best Blader World class player who loves the thrill of new challengers.

United States

Name: Zakiah
Age: 11
Bio: From the United States of America, Zakiah has been Beyblading for 7 years now. His favourite Beyblader is Gingka because he's the Best Blader in the World, with great will to battle with his partner Galaxy Pegasus.

Mexico

Name: Mauricio
Age: 11
Bio: Mauricio has been battling Beyblades in his home country of Mexico for 2 and a half years! His favourite Bey spirit is Gemios and Fireblaze and he's excited to come to Canada and compete.

Sweden

Name: Dennis
Age: 14
Bio: Dennis has been battling Beyblades for 2 years now in his home country of Sweden and his favourite Bey spirit is Virgo because of its endurance.

Norway

Name: Phillip
Age: 11
Bio: National Beyblade winner Philip is from the country of Norway and has been battling for 2 years now. Philip's favourite Bey spirit is Earth Eagle and he is looking foward to the competition.

Latvia

Name: Kristofers
Age: 11
Bio: National Beyblade Champion Kristofers originates from the city of Riga, the capital and largest city in the country of Latvia. He has been battling Beyblades for about a year and besides his favourite character being Gingka, his favourite Bey is Ray Striker.

United Kingdom

Name: Jack
Age: 10
Bio: UK champion Jack loves outdoor activities such as riding his bike and scooter, flying model aircrafts and of course battling with his Beyblades! Also an avid football (soccer) player, Jack is looking forward to playing for the title of World's Best Blader.

Denmark

Name: Hamza
Age: 11
Bio: Devoted Beyblade player Hamza has been battling Beyblades ever since they came out in stores and became popular in his home country of Denmark. Hamza's favourite Bey spirits are both Earth Eagle and Aries and he's very excited at the chance to go to Toronto.

Belgium

Name: Robbe Geerts
Age: 8
Bio: Robbe has been Blading for over two years and loves the whole game! With his favorite Bey spirits, he will for sure use his full potential to compete in the final battle as No. 1 Blader.

Germany

Name: Aleksandar
Age: 9
Bio: Germany's national winner, Aleksandar, has been battling Beyblades for 2 years and his favourite Bey spirits are Burn Fireblaze and Thunder Libra. When he isn't working on his battle skills, Aleksandar enjoys playing soccer, table tennis, practicing karate, and listening to hip hop.

France

Name: Yassin
Age: 13
Bio: Yassin is France's National Beyblade Champion. He has been battling Beyblades for 2 years and his favorite top is Earth Eagle. Although he trained several times with his brother and friends, he never thought he could become the French National Champion. He's now looking forward to competing in the World Championship.

Slovenia

Name: Gal
Age: 9
Bio: Slovenia's national winner Gal has been battling Beyblades for almost 2 years now! His favorite Bey spirit is Pegasus and really loves Beyblades. Even his little sister is starting to battle.

Portugal

Name: Eric
Age: 9
Bio: Eric is excited to be the Portuguese National Champion. His favorite top is Burn Fireblaze because it is very strong. He has been a Beyblade fan since 2002, when Hasbro launched the Beyblade tops for the first time. He practices almost every day at school with his school mates, so he is ready for the World Championship.

Spain

Name: Simón
Age: 10
Bio: Simón is Spain's national winner.

Italy

Name: Marco
Age: 12
Bio: Italy's Beyblade winner Marco, is an avid Blader who has been battling for over 3 years. His favorite Beyblades are Twisted Tempo and Hades Kerbecs and another fun fact is that Marco is an accomplished pianist and has already composed his first piano piece.

Turkey

Name: Onuralp
Age: 10
Bio: Turkey's champion Onuralp has been playing with Beyblades ever since it launched in his home town. His favourite Beyblade character is Kyoya and his favourite spirit is his best friend! Onuralp is looking foward to the competition.

Russia

Name: Vladislav
Age: 10
Bio: Russia's Beyblade Champion.

Japan

Name: Ryo
Age: 11
Bio:The winner of the world championchips. Ryo is Japan's national champion! He has been playing with Beyblades for two and half years and his favourite top is Diablo Pegasus II. He is so excited to battle with his fellow Beybladers from around the world.

Hong Kong

Name: Peter
Age: 12
Bio: Hong Kong's National Beyblade Representative Peter has been battling Beyblades for the last 2 years. His favourite Beyblade is Basalt Horogium CH120RB.

Thailand

Name: Pattara
Age: 13
Bio: Thailand's Beyblade National Champion Pattara has been battling Beyblades for more than 2 years and his favourite Beyblade is Basalt Horogium.

Philippines

Name: Neil
Age: 9
Bio: Representing the Philippines, National Champion Neil has been an avid Beyblade battler for almost 2 years now and his favourite Beyblade is Virgo.

Singapore

Name: Rueben
Age: 8
Bio: Rueben is Singapore's National Champion. He has been battling with Beyblades for more than 2 years and his favourite top is Big Bang Pegasis.

Indonesia

Name: Muhammad
Age: 14
Bio: As the Indonesia National Champion, Muhammad has been battling Beyblades for nearly one year. His favourite Beyblade is Gravity Perseus and he is looking forward to the World Championship.

Australia

Name: Dheeran
Age: 10
Bio: Dheeran won the Australian National Championship and has been battling for 2 years. His favourite Bey spirit is Rock Leone. He also loves telling jokes with his mates and swimming (which he does competitively). Dheeran was born in Toronto so he is looking forward to coming back for the World Championship.

New Zealand

Name: Finlay
Age: 10
Bio: Finlay won the National Championship in New Zealand and has been battling for 2 years. His favourite Bey spirit is Leone. He's really excited that he became his country's champion and to be heading to Canada for the World Championship. He also has his own channel on YouTube: kyoyafangrockleone.

Live webcast schedule

12:00 - 12:15: Opening Ceremony
1:00 - 2:00: Round 1 - Pool Play
2:00 - 3:00: Round 2 - Pool Play
4:00 - 4:15: Quarter-finals
4:30 - 5:00: Semi-finals
5:00 - 5:30: Finals
5:30 - 6:00: Crowning the Champion

Special regulations

The only notable rule for all the Beyblade World Championships including all the qualifier events was that 4D Beyblades were completely prohibited, in order to be fair with all the countries who only had Hasbro's Beyblades. Hasbro's release of Beyblade: Metal Fury, their version of Metal Fight Beyblade 4D, was set several months after the World Championship.

Each competitor had to choose only three Beyblades before even entering the play area with the stadiums. The Beyblades wereinspected and even disassembled by TAKARA-TOMY staff before the player could enter the field of play. Each combo had to use different Metal Wheels.

Matches were best-out-of-three, so the first to two wins. Ties were not replayed, therefore, since they counted, it was possible to get two ties, and then win the whole match with just one victory.

For Hasbro's Striker Stadium, the two pockets were counted as knock-out areas, unlike their usual regulations.

Tournament structure

There were several rounds to the World Championship, each with the goal of eliminating Bladers to only get the very best champions for the finals.

1st round - Pool Play: The 25 players were separated into 3 pools/blocks of 6 and 1 pool of 7, making this formation: 6-6-6-7. A Round Robin then happens in each pool, and the top four Bladers with the highest winning record moved on to the second round.

This round was conducted exclusively in Hasbro's Striker Stadium, and all the participants were given a Striker Stadium to practice with before the day of the World Championship. Since the battles consisted almost entirely of stamina duels in those stadiums, each round ended up being way behind schedule.

2nd round - Elite 16 Pool Play: With the new top 16 players, four equal pools were made. The composition of each block was meticulous though: for each pool, there had to be only one top winner from a pool in the first round. For example, if each pool in the first round had gotten a winner of five matches, which represents a perfect winning streak for their respective pool, then they were split into four different pools in the second round, in order to give each of them a chance to come out on top at the end, instead of fighting together and only having one of the best go to the semi-finals. Another Round Robin was done in each of these new pools.

This round also used only Hasbro's Striker Stadium.

3rd round - Bracket Play: This round consisted of a regular Single Elimination format. The top two Bladers from each of the second round's pools (so eight competitors in total) moved toward the Quarter Finals, then the winners of those advanced to the Semi-Finals. The losers of the Semi-Finals battled each other to determine the third-place winner, and the winners of the Semi-Finals obviously went into the Finals to choose the first-place and second-place winners.

The first parts of the elimination used TAKARA-TOMY's BeyStadium Attack Type, while the Finals were conducted in TAKARA-TOMY's Tornado BeyStadium, which was used frequently in Asian WBBA tournaments.

Results

Here are the top placements, followed by a more detailed schema to illustrate the way the World Championship happened:

1st place - Takahashi Ryou (Japan)
2nd place - Zakiah Garcia (USA)
3rd place - Neil Anpol Arcangeal Beley (Philippines)

Round 1 - Pool Play

In this round, the following Bladers were eliminated: Kristofers, Dheeran, Marco, Mauricio, Jason, Simon, Robbe, Jack, and Rueben.

Round 2 - Elite 16 Pool Play

In this round, the following competitors were eliminated: Hamza, Gal, Yassin, Aleksandar, Pattara, Luqman, Muhammad, Vladislav.

Round 3 - Bracket Play

Special guests

A number of important figures were invited and present at the World Championship, both from the Beyblade world and less related to it.

Blader Ken: The secondary Blader DJ from Japan, who speaks a very fine English, came to help with the organization of the battles, but his main goal seemed to animate the finals around the Tornado BeyStadium, as he always does in Japan. He was undoubtedly the coolest person to be at the World Championship.

Andy: Host of Crunch on the Canadian kids channel YTV, Andy was the presentator of the World Championship, showing the watchers of the live broadcast what the venue was like, what each part of the room was for, but also telling the viewers what was happening once in a while.

Eddie Jimenez & King Saso: These formers members of the dance crew JabbaWockeez entertained the audience with freestyle dancing in between rounds. They danced to some of Hasbro's rap Beyblade songs. Generally, they had no actual routine, as one dancer just went in the front one after the other.

Spectators

The crowd at the World Championship consisted mostly of the representatives' parents, siblings and cousins. However, some spectators also owned special passes to get into the venue. On February 25th, 2012, a tournament event was held in every Toys "R" Us across the country of Canada, and the winners were entered in a random draw to get the special prize of a free travel to the Beyblade World Championships in Toronto, but it remains unknown how all those other people got an entry pass to watch the championships at the Corus Quay.

Reception

Hasbro chose representatives for some of the biggest countries, notably Canada and Australia, in a way that is completely unrelated to actual Beyblading, and as such, it created a major upset in the Beyblade community. Other qualifiers were advertised so poorly that they went by without anybody noticing except a small group of Bladers, which was the case for the United Kingdom, another hotspot for Beyblade activity.

Besides the methods of selection, the actual Beyblade World Championship happened relatively well. The structure with the pool plays was judged to be very reasonable, although the choice of stadiums was quite debated. For instance, everyone was given a Striker Stadium to practice for the first round, which was fair, but the Finals were done in a Tornado BeyStadium, which few people except the Asian representatives had practiced in before.

Another instance regarding the rules would be on Customizations Combos. Multiple combos including top finishers contained Hades and Twisted. Due to this, multiple parts were marginalized as a result. Since the regulations specified that 4D Beyblades were banned, that would meant Pre-Hybrid Beyblades would be considered legal during the duration of the Championship.

One of the negative highlights of the event pertains to the fact that it was supposed to be livestreamed. The live recording malfunctioned several times and, in general, only approximately an hour and a half of the whole six-seven hours the Beyblade World Championship took could be viewed from anywhere around the world live. Beyblade fans were not warned that the livestreaming was not supposed to be continuous until in the middle of the Championship.

Trivia

Originally, the finals were to be held at the New York Comic Con on March 25, 2012, it was then pushed back two days.
Originally, 22 countries were to participate in the championship.
Italy had over 4,000 attendees in over 100 cities with over 30 million contacts, 50 interviews and breaking news on radio and television. In January 2011, Italy has 15 regions, 1,000 attendes with 15 regional winners. Its representative was decided on February 2011 with an average of 1,500 attendees.
According to Portugal's representative Eric's bio he was born in 2003 since he was 9 at the time of the World Championship but already started Beyblading in 2002.

References

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