Wim de Witte wins on the white of that other Sakai champion
The Belgian Koi Show 2026 once again produced a winner that by now is impossible to see as a coincidence. Wim de Witte crowned himself Grand Champion of Belgium for the second year in a row with his now infamous Sanke; Spot de Beauté.
After his victory in 2025 (then in Merelbeke), in 2026 Waregem took center stage as the setting for a battleground. It became a stand-off between one Belgian hobbyist with a Sakai fish and another Belgian hobbyist with a Sakai Koi; Filip Poppe and his Miss Magnum; his Kohaku already won more than 10 titles!
Where Poppe’s Kohaku convinced with body and presence, De Witte’s Sanke ultimately managed to make the difference on skin quality. According to insiders, that very element was the deciding factor in the judging. It is true that Miss Magnum’s white skin was slightly behind in the morning at least. I must honestly say that I have already seen the white skin recover over the day.
Spot de Beauté is now ten years old. born in 2026 she won her first award in 2024; namely the Mature Champion followed by the Grand Champion last year in 2025. So now she is once again good for the highest honor in Waregem at the Belgian Koi Show 2026. The battle between the beauties of Sakai was not unanimous, both Koi were worthy of the award.
On skin quality, Miss Magnum’ s shiroji fell just short
The body should have been the deciding factor according to some, but of course if that was always the deciding factor then skin quality would no longer matter. On that front, the Sanke is not yet finishing but is as if she has been dipped in varnish. On skin quality, Miss Magnum’s shiroji just came up short in my opinion and if I translate that into a scoring system I can imagine that this is where the battle was fought today.
In the end, it remains a jury sport and, as an unbiased journalist, I am always happy to witness such a battle; if only because it also forces you to think about it and somewhere, very deep down, everyone in the hobby knows; stories like this are why we keep watching.
