Another one of the Philippines’ premier Tekken players is going to Riyadh.
After a long and hard fought battle, Andreij “Doujin” Albar earns his spot for the Tekken 8 tournament in EWC. After the recent conclusion of CEO 2024 last Sunday, June 30, he’ll be joining Alexandre “AK” Laverez as one of the two Filipino fighting game representatives in the Esports World Cup.
Community Effort Orlando, also known as CEO, has always attracted the best fighting game players from around the world. This year was different however as it became a qualifier for the much anticipated EWC. With only the top two getting those precious EWC spots, the competition in CEO has never been fiercer.
In total, 639 players signed up for Tekken 8 with one goal: make it to the grand finals. Notable players who attended were Thailand’s Nopparut “Book” Hempamorn, North America’s Hoa “Anakin” Luu, and South Korea’s Son “Qudans” Byeong-mun. Each one of them still after that elusive ticket to Riyadh.
Doujin was also struggling for that Tekken 8 spot in EWC but he came into CEO 2024 in top form. He had a solid run throughout his pools matches, earning himself a winner’s side advantage in the top eight. He took down Japan’s Akihiro “AO” Abe 2-1 before falling to Pakistan’s Atif Ijaz 3-1 in the winner’s finals.
With one of the qualifier spots already taken, fate decided to throw Doujin a bone in the loser’s finals. His opponent wound up being Japan’s Takaba Keisuke, a player who already qualified for EWC. This meant that Doujin would get the remaining EWC spot for Tekken 8 by default.
In the end, Doujin finished third in CEO 2024. Still, he showed remarkable form and looks ready to take on the EWC later this August.
Banner photo from Katsuhiro Harada.
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