The 22nd Competition, official name: SASUKE2009春 (literally SASUKE 2009 Spring), is the fifth tournament since Nagano Makoto's kanzenseiha in SASUKE 17. Preliminary trials were held before this tournament. The SASUKE 22 Trials had seven representatives and the United States had four. Before this tournament started, the executive producer of the show was changed. Due to the great results of SASUKE 21, two new obstacles were added into the First Stage. Replacing the Pole Maze, the Circle Hammer was added as the second obstacle and functioned as a time-waster, although it eliminated several joke competitors. The Log Grip was moved to the third obstacle to accommodate for the Circle Hammer. The Slider Jump was also added, replacing the Flying Chute as the seventh obstacle. This was a new, harder addition that eliminated challengers such as Levi Meeuwenberg. The course was much tougher and time limit was much stricter in this tournament and the results showed. The broadcast was also severly cut up and placed out of order, unlike previous tournaments, causing confusion on what number was next. Only 5 people managed to clear the First Stage, including two SASUKE Trial Qualifiers, Kanno Hitoshi and Urushihara Yuuji. For the second time in SASUKE history, the last ten people (#91-100) failed. Also for the second time in history, all 5 SASUKE All-Stars that competed failed. The first time for both of these incidents was SASUKE 19. In the Second Stage, all five competitors cleared the Salmon Ladder, and a Shin-SASUKE record 4 people passed the Second Stage and moved onto the Third. The Third Stage proved to see a rise of new stars as the SASUKE Trial Qualifiers went the furthest. Kanno Hitoshi in his first attempt at the Third Stage beat the Shin-Cliffhanger that only Nagano Makoto and Takeda Toshihiro beat before. He eventually made it all the way to the Spider Flip before getting disqualified. Urushihara Yuuji breezed through most of the Third Stage and became the first person since Shiratori Bunpei in SASUKE 12 to beat the Third Stage on his first attempt. With his clear, the new Final Stage was finally known. However, Urushihara came just inches short of kanzenseiha.
TBS Date: March 30, 2009
TBS Ratings: 14.7%
G4 Date: June 21, 2009
SASUKE Announcers:
1st Chair Ogasawara Wataru (Stage 1(#1-35, 81-100), Stage 3, Final Stage)
2nd Chair Sato Fumiyasu (Stage 1 (#36-80), Stage 2)
SASUKE Results
Best: Urushihara Yuuji, Final Stage,G-Rope
Stage 1: 5 Clears
Stage 2: 4 Clears
Stage 3: 1 Clear
Final Stage: 0 Clears
First stage
Obstacles
① Rokudantobi 六段跳び
② ^Circle Hammer サークルハンマー
③ Log Grip ロッググリップ
④ Jumping Spider ジャンピングスパイダー
⑤ Half-Pipe Attack ハーフパイプアタック
⑥ Soritatsu Kabe そり立つ壁
⑦ ^Slider Jump スライダージャンプ
⑧ Tarzan Rope ターザンロープ
⑨ Rope Ladder ロープラダー
Time Limit: 120 seconds
Length: 102m
^ Denotes New Obstacle
* Denotes Obstacle Modification
Second stage
Obstacles
② Salmon Ladder サーモンラダー
③ Stick Slider スティックスライダー
④ Swing Ladder スイングラダー
⑤ Metal Spin メタルスピン
⑥ Wall Lifting ウォールリフティング
Time Limit: 80 seconds
^ Denotes New Obstacle
* Denotes Obstacle Modification
Third stage
Obstacles
② Kudari Lamp Grasper 下りランプグラスパー
③ Devil Steps デビルステップス
④ Shin-Cliffhanger 新クリフハンガー
⑤ Jumping Bars ジャンピングバー
⑥ Hang Climbing ハングクライミング
⑦ Spider Flip スパイダーフリップ
⑧ Gliding Ring グライディングリング
^ Denotes New Obstacle
* Denotes Obstacle Modification
Final stage
Obstacles
② ^G-Rope Gロープ (10m)
Length 23m
^ Denotes New Obstacle
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