The first day of the Tekken 8 event of the Esports World Cup is in the books. 5 out of 8 groups have ended, with 10 members out of the respective 5 groups securing advancement to the next stage.
The players progressing to phase 2 so far are Ao and Meo-IL from group AA, Atif and The Jon from group BB, Ulsan and JeonDDing from group CC, Knee and Yagami from group DD as well as Chikurin and Hafiz Tanveer from group EE.
Shockingly, tournament favorite and reigning Tekken World Tour champion Arslan Ash had an unexpected exit, with him losing 2-1 to Ulsan and then 2-0 to JeonDDing.
Reportedly, this somewhat surprising occurrence is down to Arslan’s arcade stick not working. The 5 time EVO champion had to resort to borrowing the arcade stick from compatriot and fellow competitor Sajawal.
His lack of familiarity and comfortableness is thought to be the main factor in this dip in performance. Make no mistake however, Arslan Ash will be back.
Today is Day 2 of the Tekken event, with 3 more Pakistanis, namely Bilal, Farzeen and Sajawal hoping to advance from their groups to join their 3 compatriots in phase 2.