3.22.2011

Mister Ong Talks to Christopher Chia Pt.1

I sat down to talk to Christopher Chia after he returned from Orlando finishing 3rd in the World Yoyo Contest in 1A - the most competitive division. In Pt. 1 we talk about the inverted tricks, winning US$200 at Lucky's BBQ and how AP stacks up against Worlds.
MO: We know that before worlds you had to juggle school and training for the contest at the same time. Can you tell us about that?
C: Actually before worlds I had an exam. It was less than a week before worlds. My exams ended on Thursday and I was leaving for Worlds on Monday so it was quite hard. So after my exams I practiced everyday.

MO: How many hours of training did you put in a day?
C: It depends. On a usual day, 2 to 3 sometimes 3 to 4 hours.

MO: Tell us about the planning for your freestyle.
I decided to use the same freestyle as Singapore Nationals because I don’t want to screw up.
I just added a few tricks. Like the inverted one (points inwards).

MO: Tell us how that came about.
C: Jayson told me Mickey was doing something like that at AP2010 and told us to explore. After a few weeks, I came up with this combo and it was new so I put it in.

MO: Was it very difficult to get it 100%?
C: Yeah quite.

MO: You were going up against the best in the world. Jensen Kimmit, Mickey, Yuuki Spencer, how were you expecting to do?
C: I didn't aim to lose. Because I spent so much money to go over there. I was aiming to win.

MO: Did you put a lot of pressure on yourself?
C: I did. But when I got there I didn’t practice as much as I did in Singapore. I rested.

MO: How is Worlds different from AP?
C: Very different. AP when overseas players arrive at the airport, Singaporean players will go and fetch them and bring them to the taxi stand. But when I reached Orlando, I didn’t know where to go. I had to find the taxi stand myself, and then go to the hotel. At Worlds no one would guide you. In Singapore when the Japanese come, we bring them out all over the place

MO: So no one told you what was the equivalent of chicken rice over there?
C: Ya and the food was expensive. I ate mainly pizza and burger. During the contest I ate pizza three meals a day

MO: Who was interesting there?
C: Senba and Tsubasa Onikii. Out of nowhere they will start dancing. And hoah they can dance quite well. Break dancing and popping. Eric Koloski as well. He can play the piano. There was a piano at Lucky's BBQ.

MO: How was Lucky's BBQ?
C: His house is very nice. Oh and I won US$200 there. There was a 15 seconds of fame contest there where everyone will just go up and just do whatever to try to impress the judges. You can do yoyos, anything.
Taka did soloham, Rei Iwakura did the 5a dance and some guy jumped over a dustbin.
Actually I didn't want to join but Taka said "you must join, you must join". Then there's this guy from Duncan. He said (pointing) “he's the only one from Singapore.”
Then everyone started clapping so I went up. I did the behind the back horizontal trick. At the end of it they just announced the winner and I got the trophy and two US100$ bills.

MO: How is the competitive level of Worlds compared to AP?
C: Umm.. I think it's harder to qualify for AP. Overall, AP is more competitive. By looking at the freestyles, AP almost everyone has a clean freestyle.
Second round at Worlds though is a little bit tougher. First round at Worlds is easier than AP but second round maybe is about the same.

MO: How was your condition on the day of your competition?
C: I was quite on form that day. When I practiced I didn't make any mistakes. Some of my friends in Singapore told me not to practice so much there so I just relaxed. I went up to my room and slept for a while. Then when the freestyle started, I went down.

MO: Before your freestyle, were you nervous?
C: Yeah nervous.

MO: Compared to syyc?
C: About the same.

Next time: Chris tells us about who he's most afraid of in Singapore!

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