Final Table Set For Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship

The table is finally set for Major League Eating’s biggest event of the year: the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship.

This Sunday, Sept. 28 in Chattanooga eleven of the finest eaters from around the world, including American phenom Joey Chestnut and Japan’s legendary gurgitator Takeru Kobayashi, will battle live on FSN South for the top burger title and an unprecedented $50,000 cash purse. FSN South will air a live, 60-minute special on Krystal Square Off V, including the championship event, starting at 2 p.m. EST.

This year’s winner will walk with a whopping $20,000 and the coveted Krystal Square Off Champion’s Belt and Trophy made out of crystal. The runner-up and third place finisher will each take home $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, and the remaining finalists will receive payouts ranging from $3,000 to $500.

While Chestnut received an automatic seat at this year’s final table as the defending champ, the ten other finalists had to battle it out during a seven-city qualifying circuit in which the winner in each city won a spot at the finals and the rest fought for three wild card seats. Kobayashi posted the top qualifying number this year, easily winning the Birmingham qualifier last Saturday by devouring 89 Krystals in eight-minutes. His mark betters Chestnut’s all-time qualifier record of 87 Krystals set at the trials in Tuscaloosa last year.

The 11 finalists for Krystal Square Off V are:

Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, San Jose, Calif. (Automatic seat as defending champ)
Takeru Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan (89 Krystals in Birmingham, Ala.)
Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti, Chicago, Ill. (66 Krystals in Atlanta)
Tim “Eater X” Janus, New York, N.Y. (63 Krystals in Knoxville)
Hall “Hoover” Hunt, Jacksonville, Fla. (60 Krystals in Jacksonville)
“Humble” Bob Shoudt, Philadelphia, Pa. (58 Krystals in Chattanooga)
Rich “The Locust” LeFevre, Henderson, Nev. (52 Krystals in Memphis)
Juliet “The Lovely” Lee, Germantown, Md. (51 Krystals in Nashville)
Juris “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama, Murfreesboro, Tenn. (51 Krystals in Nashville – Wild Card)
Eric “Badlands” Booker, Long Island, N.Y. (51 Krystals in Nashville – Wild Card)
Crazy Legs Conti, New York, N.Y. (50 Krystals in Nashville – Wild Card)

In addition to the 11 finalists, for the first time in Krystal Square Off history, one person from the crowd will be chosen on the spot to compete in the championship event, giving them the chance to compete alongside some of the best eaters in the world live on television.

Last year at Krystal Square Off IV, Joey Chestnut shocked the world and a live audience of 10,000 by eating 103 Krystals in eight minutes, shattering Takeru Kobayashi’s previous world record mark of 97 set in 2006. Due to a debilitating jaw injury, Kobayashi did not compete in last year’s final. With Kobayashi hoping to reclaim his title from Chestnut, this year’s showdown is the most hotly anticipated event in competitive eating and thousands of spectators from across the U.S. and as far away as Japan are expected to witness Krystal Square Off V in person.

Now in its fifth year, the Krystal Square Off is one of the two majors in the sport of competitive eating and the only world hamburger eating championship sanctioned by Major League Eating, the official governing body of all stomach-centric sports. An eight-minute eating contest, Krystal Square Off V is presented by the fast food icon Krystal and features the famous, fresh, hot, small, square Krystal Hamburger.