Singapore - A 30-year-old Japanese gobbler emerged as the Asian champ of Singapore's Major League Eating competition by downing 5.4 kilograms of satay in 
12 minutes, news reports said on Monday.

The 60-kilogram Takeru Kobayashi won the showdown on Sunday against 24-year-old American Joey Chestnut, who swallowed 4.1 kilograms of the meat on sticks, The Straits Times said.

Kobayashi leaves for home in Tokyo on Tuesday with a crystal trophy worth 3,000 Singapore dollars (2,068 US dollars).

He lost to Chestnut in New York on July 5. The two were tied after 10 minutes and 59 hot dogs, but 102-kilogram Chestnut won the tie- breaker.

Kobayashi told the newspaper he lost by a small margin and was determined to win by a large one this time.

He heads to a hamburger eating contest in the United States in September. (dpa)