SASUKE 29

Intro
SASUKE 29, (officially, 「SASUKE RISING 2013」), is the 29th SASUKE tournament, which took place in the beginning of June 2013 and aired on June 27, 2013. This tournament served as the Japanese qualifiers for the 2014 SASUKE ASEAN Open Cup. This was the second tournament aired in summer (after SASUKE 15).

Several competitors who had not competed in SASUKE for many years, finally returned to SASUKE for this tournament, including;
 * Nagasaki Shunsuke, who competed for the first time since SASUKE 19,
 * Tomoyuki, who competed for the first time since SASUKE 19 as well,
 * SASUKE 1 finalist Kawashima Takayuki, who competed for the first time since SASUKE 22,
 * 3-time Second Stage survivor Kobayashi Masaaki, who competed for the first time since SASUKE 16,
 * Kajiwara Yuuta, who competed for the first time since SASUKE 13, and,
 * Tatayama Masaaki, who set a new hiatus record at 25 tournaments, competed for the first time since SASUKE 3.

The field was almost all Japanese competitors, with the only foreigner being Taiwanese's Lee En-Chih.

In the First Stage, 2 new obstacles and a modified Log Grip were introduced and the mat color changed back to red (even though there were black/red mixed color mats on the Log Grip) This stage was proven to be relatively easy, particularly with the removal of the previously damaging Rolling Escargot and Spin Bridge, as 21 competitors (including 9 previous finalists) completed the First Stage, the fifth best result in SASUKE history at that time. Despite the success rate of the First Stage being over four times greater than the previous tournament, there were still notable failures there, such as two-time Second Stage competitor Sato Hiromichi, who surprisingly failed at the first obstacle (the Long Jump), and two former All-Stars: Takeda Toshihiro and Nagano Makoto. Katakabe Hiromasa was the only rookie in this tournament to clear the First Stage.

In the Second Stage, the obstacles were the same as SASUKE 28. However, the time limit was drastically reduced from 135 seconds to 90 seconds. The Backstream was modified to be harder and was proven to be a challenge, as more than half of the remaining competitors failed or timed out there. Neither of the first two competitors (Yamamoto Shingo or Hashimoto Koji) could clear the obstacle despite both being skilled swimmers, resulting in the jets being reduced after Hashimoto's run. They were then escalated again after Takahashi Kenji cleared the stage. Two-time champion Urushihara Yuuji still had half the time limit remaining when he attempted the obstacle, but even he, however, could not clear it and timed out due to exhaustion. Only 4 out of 21 competitors who attempted the stage cleared, the second lowest Second Stage success rate in SASUKE history, only beaten by SASUKE 19. However, Nagasaki Shunsuke's return was arguably impressive, as he went the furthest out of the competitors who did not clear the stage, timing out on the second wall of the Passing Wall.

New rules were given for this particular tournament, strangely stating that only one competitor who finished the Third Stage in the fastest time would be allowed to advance to the Final Stage, regardless of whether any other competitor cleared the stage to make selections for the SASUKE ASEAN Open Cup easier to decide, which resulted in for the first time, a timer being used. In the Third Stage, Morimoto Yūsuke, despite struggling on the Iron Paddler, became the first competitor to clear the Crazy Cliffhanger. He went on to beat the Curtain Cling and Vertical Limit and made it all the way to the end of the Pipe Slider. However, he missed the mat and fell backward into the water. The remaining three competitors (Takahashi Kenji, Asa Kazuma, and Kanno Hitoshi) all failed at the Crazy Cliffhanger.

Morimoto Yūsuke got the furthest, therefore he won and represented Japan in the 2014 SASUKE ASEAN Open Cup.

* - SASUKE ASEAN Open Cup was originally going to be held in November 2013, but was postponed and rescheduled to February 2014.

Obstacles
① ^Long Jump ロングジャンプ

② *Log Grip ロググリップ

③ ^Hedgehog ヘッジホッグ

④ *Jump Hang Kai ジャンプハング改

⑤ Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe 2連そり立つ壁

⑥ Tarzan Rope ターザンロープ

⑦ Rope Ladder ロープラダー

^ Denotes New Obstacle

* Denotes Modified Obstacle

Time Limit: 105 seconds

Obstacles
① Cross Slider クロススライダー

② Swap Salmon Ladder スワップサーモンラダー

③ Unstable Bridge アンステーブルブリッジ

④ Spider Walk スパイダーウォーク

⑤ *Backstream バックストリーム

⑥ Passing Wall パッシングウォール

^ Denotes New Obstacle

* Denotes Modified Obstacle

Time Limit: 90 seconds

Obstacles
① Rumbling Dice ランブリングダイス ② Iron Paddler アイアンパドラー

③ Crazy Cliffhanger クレイジークリフハンガー

④ Curtain Cling カーテンクリング

⑤ Vertical Limit バーティカルリミット

⑥ Pipe Slider パイプスライダー

^ Denotes New Obstacle

* Denotes Modified Obstacle