It's fast, it's furious and it's a sport you've probably never heard of.
Two Upper Hutt brothers Nicolas and Philip
Kananghinis, 12 and 10 respectively, are making a name for themselves
internationally in the world of sport stacking.
The sport requires competitors, both individuals and
in teams, to stack a dozen specially designed cups in pre-determined
sequences as quickly as possible.
Competitive times for stacking, depending on which sequence, are consistently less than six seconds.
The brothers hold the New Zealand and Asia records
for doubles and have placed consistently as individuals in the top ten
in the country since they started around three years ago.
"At school my teacher in Year 6 was an ambassador of
the sport and he taught our class and then I went to the national
competition and came third overall, surprisingly," Nicolas says.
"And then I just carried on and get better every day."
Since that first win, Nicolas placed fourth in the
world for his age group at the World Sport Stacking Championship in
Germany last year and 43rd overall.
At this year's world championship in Florida both brothers also placed in the top ten.
They say their brotherly rivalry is what keeps them competitive.
"There's no time I've ever really beaten him at stacking," Philip says before Nicolas interjects.
"He has for about two minutes, but then I beat it."
Sport
stacking has also turned out to be a family affair with at least four
of the brothers' younger siblings trying their hand at the sport,
including their three-year-old sister.
Mum Jodie Kananghinis says she and husband Basil have also tried their hand at sport stacking too.
"It's
fun to do and it's sort of addictive. You have your own time in your
head and you try and beat that – [we're] nowhere near in the same
league."
The brothers are fundraising to go to
the next world championship tournament in South Korea in April next
year, but they are yet to be picked in the national Black Stacks team.
3 News Mon, 15 Jul 2013 5:01p.m.
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