The world's top female speed-eating champion chomped her way to a 28th eating record, wolfing down 17 Chinese-style lotus seed buns in 12 minutes during her debut competition in Asia.
Sonya Thomas, stuffing her mouth with the jumbo buns amid swigs of water, obliterated competitors from Hong Kong and China in the "Whampoa Asia Eating Championship".
"I still feel hungry," said the Korean-American from Virginia in the United States, after winning a $HK20,000 ($A3,250) cheque.
Runner up Johnny Wu, the Hong Kong Eating Champion, managed nine buns. In the semi-finals, Thomas consumed 176 Chinese-style vegetable dumplings against Wu's 74.
The Hong Kong victory was the first for the waif-like Thomas in Asia, as she seeks to expands her reputation beyond the established American circuit of hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken wings and waffles.
"I'd say she's the Billie Jean King of eating," said her publicist "Hungry" Charles Hardy, who once competed against Thomas, referring to the former tennis champion.
The eating champion from the United States has amassed 28 records in a variety of speed-eating events, including eating 552 oysters in 10 minutes and five kilograms of cheesecake in nine minutes.
"It's (the) only sport ... eating competition, where women beat (the) man," said Thomas in shrill, accented English.
"I like to beat men."
But despite a string of successes, Thomas has not managed to dethrone the current world eating champion, Takeru Kobayashi of Japan.
"I've never beat him. His speed is so good," she said. "He's very strong, his mind. That's why he's number one in the world.
"That's my goal. I want to beat him some day," she added.
Front page
RSS Feed