SASUKE 18

Intro
The 18th Competition, official name: 新SASUKE2007春 (literally Shin-SASUKE 2007 Spring), is the first tournament since Nagano Makoto's kanzenseiha in SASUKE 17.

Like in SASUKE 5, the course was significantly altered to increase the difficulty. However, the course and difficulty were so significantly altered, that a new era of SASUKE was born, Shin-SASUKE (literally "New SASUKE").

For the sake of fairness, a 1200-meter run was conducted before the tournament, allowing competitors to choose their own number.

The new First Stage was much longer than the previous tournament, as the time limit was increased to 130 seconds, the longest in SASUKE history at that time (until SASUKE 28's Second Stage at 135 seconds). Every obstacle in the First Stage was brand new, save for the Tarzan Jump (which was renamed as the Tarzan Rope). Because of the increased difficulty and unfamiliarity of the obstacles, the results in this tournament were vastly worse than the previous tournament, as only six competitors cleared, the worst since SASUKE 10. Also, the mats were changed from black in color to red. At 15 years old, future SASUKE champion Morimoto Yūsuke made his SASUKE debut, although he fell at the Jumping Spider.

In the Second Stage, only the Metal Spin returned and was modified, and every other obstacle was new. The real killer was a new obstacle, the Salmon Ladder, as it eliminated half of the six remaining competitors. The remaining three competitors cleared the new Second Stage to move on to the new Third Stage.

Half of the Third Stage obstacles were brand new. The Shin-Cliffhanger eliminated the remaining three competitors. Nagano Makoto made it the furthest but got disqualified on the Shin-Cliffhanger, making it the shortest end to a tournament until that point.

Obstacles
① ^Rope Glider ロープグライダー

② ^Log Grip ロッググリップ

③ ^Pole Maze ポールメイズ

④ ^Jumping Spider ジャンピングスパイダー

⑤ ^Bungee Bridge バンジーブリッジ

⑥ ^Great Wall グレートウォール

⑦ ^Flying Chute フライングシュート

⑧ Tarzan Rope ターザンロープ

⑨ ^Rope Ladder ロープラダー

Time Limit: 130 seconds

^ Denotes New Obstacle

 * Denotes Obstacle Modification

Obstacles
① ^Downhill Jump ダウンヒルジャンプ

② ^Salmon Ladder サーモンラダー

③ ^Stick Slider スティックスライダー

④ ^Net Bridge ネットブリッジ

⑤ *Metal Spin メタルスピン

⑥ ^Shoulder Walk ショルダーウォーク

Time Limit: 95 seconds

^ Denotes New Obstacle

* Denotes Obstacle Modification

Obstacles
① Arm Ring アームリング

② *Arm Bike アームバイク

③ ^Curtain Swing カーテンスイング

④ ^Shin-Cliffhanger 新クリフハンガー

⑤ *Jumping Bars ジャンピングバー

⑥ *Climbing Bars クライミングバー

⑦ ^Spider Flip スパイダーフリップ

⑧ ^Final Ring ファイナルリング

^ Denotes New Obstacle

* Denotes Obstacle Modification