A Pakistani gamer beat some of the world’s best Tekken players at EVO Japan 2019. Arsalan Ash of Pakistan is now the Tekken 7 champion in Asia. For those who are unaware, Tekken is a popular fighting game series from Japanese game developers Namco.
Competitive gaming is not huge in Pakistan like it is in the rest of Asia. That didn’t stop Arsalan from slaying some of the world’s best gamers, and that too at Evo Japan 2019. Evo Japan is considered as one of the world’s biggest fighting game tournaments.
If that fact doesn’t make you proud enough, last year this same guy took out a Tekken 7 veteran ‘Knee’ at a tournament at Dubai.
‘Knee’ is one of the best players of Tekken 7 in the world. By taking him down, this Pakistani youth landed on the gaming map with a surprising victory.
The surprising thing is, even though Arsalan may have gone head to head with some pro gamers this time, however he has never participated in any major gaming tournament prior to Evo Japan 2019. Thats what makes his ascent to world champion status such a big deal.
Those who say Arsalan might have ‘gotten lucky’, really aren’t aware of his accomplishments. His victory against Knee wasn’t a one-off thing. His ‘lucky strike’ is lasting pretty long, given how Arsalan just struck out from a pool of 512 of the world’s best players at EVO.
No Beginner’s Luck at Play Here
The Pakistani gamer’s mad skills can no longer be written off as beginners luck. Arsalan crushed opponent after opponent who challenged him at Evo Japan 2019.
And what’s more, world champion Arsalan was awarded 1.5 million Yen. That is almost Rs 19 lakh!
The Winning Battle
After the initial round constituting 512 of the world’s best players, Arsalan came out in the top 32. These 32 were the best of the best. In the end, Arsalan was pinned against AK, a top player from the Philippines for the grand final.
Arsalan won the grand final 3-0. The commentators mentioned that AK’s technique was to drive an opponent into the wall and pummel them. However, AK’s strategy was no match for Arsalan’s quick reflexes and brute offensive gaming skills. Arsalan’s gaming avatar Kasumi can be seen going after the opponent and delivering hit after hit.
Needless to say, Arsalan joins gaming prodigies like Sumail in the gaming hall of fame. Here’s to hoping more Pakistani talent makes a global name for themselves.
Quite a feat for someone who almost didn’t make it to the tournament. Here’s how his sponsor VSlash describes it:
A story i must share, a must read about @ArslanAsh95
Inspiration and determination3 days of nightmares ended with happiness and history#EVOJapan2019 pic.twitter.com/dzlhuFkCao
— vSlash| Albanna (@Zantetsu_AE) February 18, 2019
Talk about a nail-biting finish!
when arsalan beat knee at dubai I wrote to propakistani but you guys ignored his news then now you spreading it like u care when he won evo.
i liked this
can i join this game tournament and how can i join this?
I played once with Arslan long ago. We all proud of you Arslan well done. although it was very difficult for you.we all need to participate to boost our gaming society.we have a huge number of talented players who can represent Pakistan not only in Tekken but in other games as well.
So proud of him conquering the world alone and accomplishing the impossible in a striving way..