Okayama University’s Double Dutch club “Jumping Cats” won the open division of the Chugoku-Shikoku-Kyushu Regional Double Dutch Tournament, held in Okayama City on September 10. “Double Dutch” is a performance using two jump ropes.

The tournament required that each team to be composed of six or fewer members, and that to compete in the open division, over half of the members must be students. Four teams participated in the open division. They performed dances and acrobatic feats while jumping with two ropes in rhythm to the music in front of about 300 spectators.

The winning team, “Avoir,” is composed of members of Jumping Cats. They will advance to the national tournament, to be held in Tokyo on October 15.

Team representative Tatsuki Mitani (a third-year student in the Faculty of Economics) said, “We were in terrible shape for a while after our poor results at the March tournament. But we were able to overcome our problems by discussing them. While we won this time, our performance wasn’t perfect, so we will polish our efforts and do our best for the national tournament. We wish to thank all of our supporters, and hope to raise the popularity of Double Dutch in western Japan through our performance.”