Yamamoto Yoshiyuki

Yamamoto Yoshiyuki (山本 良幸) is a member of the of the Black Tigers, and is the Gundan's top competitor, having making it deep into the third stage in his first three SASUKE tournaments. He's been affectionately nicknamed Yoshi due to his sudden rise to prominence and subsequent popularity in the community.

He first competed in SASUKE 37, where he had a good pace going in the first stage. He ultimately became the first competitor that night to clear that stage with 9.41 seconds left. In stage two, he showed great speed and cleared with the fastest time with 23.57 seconds left. He became the second Black Tiger ever to reach the third stage after Obata Satoshi in SASUKE 34. In stage three, he made it all the way to the new Cliffhanger Dimension, being the first ever to attempt this cliffhanger version. While the ledges didn't move due to safety concerns from the rain, Yoshiyuki managed to make the first transition, only to fail the second ledge by not reaching far enough. This marks the furthest point any Japanese competitor had made in their first apperance since Kobayashi Shinji in SASUKE 11.

His next appearance would be in SASUKE 38, wearing #49 this time around. Though he only had to deal with the new Silk Slider, he would manage to once again clear the first stage with a time of 13.8 seconds left. Stage two would prove to be slightly more difficult, as he would have to deal with the now functioning Rolling Log, an obstacle he would have attempted in the previous tournament, if it wasn't for the rain that prevented competitors to attempt it. Still, even with the new obstacle, Yamamoto would be the tournament's first stage two clear with a time of 13.2 seconds left. In the third stage however, while quickly clearing the first three obstacles, he would have to deal with the now fully operating Cliffhanger Dimension, with the moving ledges. Impressively though, Yamamoto would again make the first transition, and even cleared the second transition; unfortunately, his run would end shockingly as his grip gave way on the final ledge, missing the resting bar, and ending his run on the obstacle he almost cleared. He went the second furthest that tournament, and was the first of three Cliffhanger Dimension fails; this was also the furthest point a Black Tiger has made in SASUKE. It should also be noted that the third ledge was wet, thus causing Yoshiyuki to slip one he touched the wet area.

In SASUKE 39, wearing his highest number to date at #50, he had two outstanding showings in the first two stages, clearing both with the fastest time (27.1 secs in the first and 26.5 secs in the second) However his third stage performance would be his worst so far, failing a blind reverse-grab transition on the new Swing Edge just before it. His performance could have been way worse as he had a reckless showing on the new Sidewinder which was modified to rotate. On the transfer between the 3rd and 4th poles, Yamamoto briefly slipped and had to wait for another chance to jump. When he did, he suddenly slid down to the bottom of the handhold but saved himself by reaching with his legs to the platform. Yamamoto afterwards performed the baseball gesture for safe after landing safely.

Trivia

 * Yamamoto and Hasegawa Ken are the only two competitors to compete in SASUKE at least thrice without ever failing the first or second stage.
 * Yamamoto owns the record for consecutive fastest clear times in the second stage, currently it is at 3.
 * With Yamamoto's performance in SASUKE 39, he along with 6 other competitors share the feat of clearing the first and second stage in the fastest time in that same tournament. (Those 6 are Yamamoto Shingo, Nagano Makoto, Levi Meeuwenberg, David Campbell, Asa Kazuma, and Ragivaru Anastase)