Austin Kulman and Three Californians to Represent the U.S. at the Yu-Gi-Oh!

TCG World Championship Tournament This Summer in Japan  

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – June 4, 2006 – After 16 hours of fierce competition, the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME now has its new National Champion.  Defeating over 350 of the nation’s best Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG players, 10-year-old Austin Kulman of Bellvue, Washington has not only been recognized as the "best of the nation’s best," but as the youngest ever official Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG U.S. National Champion.  Kulman is one of four Duelists who will go on to represent the United States in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship Tournament this summer in Tokyo, Japan. 

Kulman is the youngest player to ever make it to the final rounds of the National Championships, and hence the youngest-ever champion for the world renowned trading card game.  Just 10-years old, he started playing the game when he was in the second grade.

The three other Duelists, in order of the place they finished, who will go on to represent the U.S. in the 2006 World Championships are: Matt Garcia, 14, of Stockton, California; Miguel Flores, 27, of Orange County, California; and Matt Lawrence, 16, of Pasadena, California.  The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship event will be held on August 5 in Tokyo, Japan.

The intense competition -- held over two days at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, California (June 3 & 4) – was a true nationwide event, attracting players from around the U.S. who have come to the Bay Area from as far as Texas, Hawaii, California, New York, and Florida, to name a few states.  All Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG national tournament competitors earned a spot in the U.S. National Championship tournament by competing and winning previous tournaments in their various region.