SASUKE 27, official name: SASUKE2011秋 (literally SASUKE 2011 Fall), is the third tournament after Urushihara Yuuji defeated the course. Early rumors after SASUKE 26 stated that SASUKE 27 would be held in March 2011 and would be the final SASUKE tournament as a casualty of TBS' cutbacks. However, TBS denied the rumor and eventually released a statement inviting participants to a trial tournament in June, with the competition being taped in July.
Three trials were held before the proposed taping. Monster9 announced a trial for June, but an exact date has not been confirmed. American Ninja Warrior returned for its third season, which once again culminated in fifteen people invited to a week long boot camp to compete for ten spots in SASUKE. For the first time, Malaysia held a trial similar to ANW. There were two stages - a First Stage replica and a Final Stage replica based on the second era version. Five people cleared the First Stage, and the person who climbed the fourteen meter Final Stage in the fastest time was invited to SASUKE.
The results this tournament were vastly better, however several familiar faces were eliminated in Stage 1. Interesting defeats occured such asYamada Katsumi failing the Soritatsu Kabe, marking the 13th straight defeat for Yamada in a row; Li En Zhi unexpectedly failing the Step Slider when he grasped the rope too low and his feet hit the water; Yamamoto Shingo failing the Spin Bridge after slipping on the last boulder and flipping backwards into the water; and Drew Drechsel tearing his ACL on the landing of the Half-Pipe Attack. However, 27 people cleared Stage 1, the most since SASUKE 4 and the third most clears of all-time. The time limit of the First Stage was also arguably quite lenient, with 18 of the 27 competitors finishing with over 10 seconds left. 9 Americans cleared the First Stage, which was also a record. David Campbell set the new First Stage Time record with 44.32 seconds, and Nagano Makoto finished the First Stage for the first time since SASUKE 23.
No changes were made to the Second Stage from the previous tournament. Kanno Hitoshi withdrew after a shoulder injury on the Slider Drop, while several people failed the Double Salmon Ladder and Metal Spin. Ishikawa Terukazu finished the stage with a mere 00.06 seconds, beating both Hasegawa Ken's and James Okada's records of 00.1 seconds in SASUKE 1 and SASUKE 7, respectively. The field thinned from 27 to 10.
The Third Stage was heavily tweaked. The Ultimate Cliffhanger was moved to the third obstacle, and the Flying Bar was moved to the second obstacle. The Arm Bike and a tweaked version of the Pipe Slider named the Bar Glider returned. New obstacles such as the Chain See-Saw and Swing Circle appeared. Ishikawa and Okuyama failed the Flying Bar, Campbell, Kasemir, Nagano, Stratis, and McGrath failed the Ultimate Cliffhanger and Hashimoto failed the Chain See-Saw. Unlimited Cliffer's Urushihara and Matachi passed Stage 3, Urushihara for the third time in three appearances and Matachi on his first try.
In the Final Stage Matachi Ryo failed several feet away from the top, but Urushihara Yuuji achieved a second Kanzenseiha with 6.7 seconds, the fastest Kanzenseiha time.
TBS Date: October 3, 2011
TBS Ratings: 12.6%
G4 Date ANW: August 22, 2011 (NBC), Others: March 4, 2012
SASUKE Announcers:
1st Chair Hatsuta Keisuke (Stage 1 (#81-100), Final Stage)
2nd Chair Ogasawara Wataru (Stage 1(#21-60), Stage 3)
3rd Chair Sato Fumiyasu (Stage 1 (#1-20, 61-80), Stage 2)
SASUKE Results
Best: Urushihara Yuuji, Kanzenseiha
Stage 1: 27 Clears
Stage 2: 10 Clears
Stage 3: 2 Clears
Final Stage: 1 Clear
First Stage
Obstacles
② *Rolling Escargot ローリングエスカルゴ
③ *Giant Swing ジャイアントスイング
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 ^Spin Bridge スピンブリッジ
⑧ Tarzan Rope ターザンロープ
⑨ Rope Ladder ロープラダー
^ Denotes New Obstacle
* Denotes Modified Obstacle
Time Limit: 125 seconds
Length: 130 m
Second Stage
Obstacles
② *Double Salmon Ladder ダブルサーモンラダー
③ Unstable Bridge アンステーブルブリッジ
④ Balance Tank バランスタンク
⑤ Metal Spin メタルスピン
⑥ Wall Lifting ウォールリフティング
Time Limit: 90 seconds
^ Denotes New Obstacle
* Denotes Modified Obstacle
Third Stage
Obstacles
② *Flying Bar フライングバー
③ Ultimate Cliffhanger アルティメットクリフハンガー
④ ^Jumping Ring ジャンピングリング
⑤ ^Chain See-Saw チェーンシーソー
⑥ Rope Climb ロープクライム
⑦ ^Bar Glider バーグライダー
^ Denotes New Obstacle
* Denotes Modified Obstacle
Final stage
Obstacles
Time Limit: 40 seconds
Length: 20 m
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