Tournament:Premium Fight

Premium Fight
Dates	August 25th, 2001
Venue	Makuhari Messe
Address/City	2-1, Nakase, Mihama-ku Chiba, Chiba, Japan
Attendance	Unknown (More than 32)
Entry fees	Free
Results
winners	Yasuhito Murofushi 1v1
Staff
Organizer(s)	Nintendo
Emcees	Asarido (Naru Kawamoto & Fumihiro Horiguchi)

Premium Fight was a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament hosted by Nintendo at Space World 2001 on August 25th, 2001, three months prior to Melee's Japanese release. It was notably the first Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament and first Nintendo-sponsored tournament as well. The tournament was emceed by the comedian duo Asarido, consisting of Naru Kawamoto and Fumihiro Horiguchi.

The tournament was played using 4 player, free-for-all, Time matches with the grand finals being a 2 player 1v1 Stock match. The prize for first place was a Nintendo GameCube and a copy of Super Smash Bros. Melee upon release. Second place only earned a copy of Super Smash Bros. Melee upon release. According to an IGN article, everyone who made it to the finals earned a special Super Smash Bros. Melee tote bag.

Due to the tournament taking place before Melee's official release, only a few characters were available. These characters included Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Ness, Peach, Bowser, and the Ice Climbers.

Results

Main tournament

According to a post made by Masahiro Sakurai on the official Japanese Super Smash Bros. Melee website, lots of people entered the tournament, but only the top 32 made it into the quarterfinals where they were then split up into 8 groups of 4 players each. The groups played a 2-minute free-for-all match, with 8 players who won 1st place in their respective group advancing into the semi-finals. The rules used during the semi-finals were the same as in the quarterfinals, with the 8 players being split into 4 groups. The 4 winners of the semi-finals advanced into the finals. Sakurai remarks that a "brilliant" player by the name of Oikawa, who was endorsed by Asarido, was eliminated here. The top 2 players moved on. The grand finals was between Yuta Suzuki and Yasuhito Murofushi, both 16 years old at the time. The match was set to Stock mode instead of the usual Time mode. In the end, Murofushi took the win using Mario.

Place	Name	Character(s)	Earnings
1st	Yasuhito Murofushi		Nintendo GameCube + Super Smash Bros. Melee
2nd	Yuta Suzuki		Super Smash Bros. Melee
3rd	Oikawa

Asarido 1v1 Coin Battle

Prior to the grand finals, both Asarido members, Naru Kawamoto and Fumihiro Horiguchi, competed in a quick Coin Battle. Kawamoto ended up winning by 8 coins.

Place	Name	Character(s)
1st	Naru Kawamoto
2nd	Fumihiro Horiguchi

External links

• Translated Articles by Source Gaming
  • Report from the Japanese Melee website - August 25th, 2001
  • Report from the Japanese Nintendo website
  • Pre-Tournament News and Tips from Masahiro Sakurai via the Japanese Melee website - August 24th, 2001
• IGN Articles:
  • SMASH BROS. TOURNAMENT AT SPACE WORLD 2001 - July 16th, 2001
  • SMASH BROS. MELEE TOURNAMENT - August 6th, 2001