News
Pokemon 2010 World Champions Crowned
Kona, HI-August 16, in the year of our Lord 2010-
For nearly a year, the goal for tens of thousands of Pokémon™
Trading Card Game (TCG) and video game players around the world
has been becoming World Champion, but only a few hundred made it
to the big stage this weekend, August 14-15, at the 2010 Pokémon
World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. When the dust settled after
two days of intense competition featuring more than 375 players
from over 25 countries, five World Champions were crowned. The
Pokémon Company International announced today its 2010 World
Champions: Junior TCG World Champion Yuka Furusawa from Japan
and Junior video game World Champion Shota Yamamoto from Japan;
Senior TCG World Champion Jacob Lesage from Canada and Senior
video game World Champion Ray Rizzo from the United States; and
Masters TCG World Champion Yuta Komatsuda from Japan.
Many of the world's elite Pokémon TCG and video game players
traveled to Hawaii to compete in the prestigious, invite-only
Pokémon World Championships, vying for the title of World
Champion, custom Nintendo® DSi XL game systems, trophies,
vacations, and more than $100,000 in scholarships. Staged as two
separate tournaments under the same roof at the Hilton Waikoloa
Village, the two-day event emphasized the skill, strategy,
creativity, sportsmanship, and fun involved in playing the
Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokémon HeartGold Version and
Pokémon SoulSilver Version video games for the Nintendo DS
family of systems. Players, called "Trainers," enjoyed an entire
weekend of action-packed battles in the tropics to determine the
world's best.
"We are so proud of all the players who competed in another
exciting Pokémon World Championships, and we want to extend
special congratulations to the 2010 World Champions who battled
their way through a truly global event," said J.C. Smith,
Director of Consumer Marketing for The Pokémon Company
International. "Hawaii was an amazing backdrop for this year's
tournament, providing a breathtaking arena for the hundreds of
Pokémon players who competed with skill and sportsmanship."
2010 Pokémon Trading Card Game World Finalists-Junior Division
(born in 1999 or later)
World Champion: Yuka Furusawa from Japan
Second Place: Juan Pablo Arenas from the United States
2010 Pokémon Trading Card Game World Finalists-Senior Division
(born in 1995-1998)
World Champion: Jacob Lesage from Canada
Second Place: Mychael Bryan from the United States
2010 Pokémon Trading Card Game World Finalists-Masters Division
(born in 1994 or earlier)
World Champion: Yuta Komatsuda from Japan
Second Place: Michael Pramawat from the United States
2010 Pokémon Video Game World Finalists-Junior Division (born in
1998 or later)
World Champion: Shota Yamamoto from Japan
Second Place: Santa Ito from Japan
2010 Pokémon Video Game World Finalists-Senior Division(born in
1997 or earlier)
World Champion: Ray Rizzo from the United States
Second Place: Yasuki Tochigi from Japan