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| Arsalan Siddiqui of Droghewala became the 'Pakistani king of tech' by playing a video game with tokens. |
Pakistan's professional e-gamer Arslan Ash has won the Tekken 7 competition in the video gaming tournament evo 2023 held in Tokyo, the capital of Japan.
The tournament was held from March 31 to April 2, in which Arslan won the title by defeating Mew Al in the finals of Taken Seven. He has won this title before.
It should be noted that Pakistani Tekken player Arslan Ash has won many international competitions before, due to which he has got the title of Pakistani king of Tekken.
But how did Arsalan, who hails from the Droghewala area of Lahore, master a game that used to be dominated by foreign players and earn the title of Pakistan's King of Tekken?
We published this detailed report on his gaming journey on August 6, 2019, when Arslan won the 2019 EVO 2019 in Las Vegas, USA. This report is being reproduced today.
"It has never happened before in the history of Tekken competitions that a player from an unknown country like Pakistan rose up and overshadowed the Korean, Japanese, European, and North American players. Today's story is that no one can stop Arsalan.
These words were from a commentator during the final match of the EVO 2019 held in the city of Las Vegas, USA, who called Arsalan Siddiqui, known as the 'Taken God' from Droge Wale area of Lahore, 'Holy Nee'. Shane is watching.
In the last few years, the world of Tekken has not really been able to stop 'Arsalan Ash'. His story is as legendary as the characters with whom he vanquishes his opponents.
As a child, Arslan played the 'token game' in his neighborhood like his peers, and then traveled to different cities and won tournaments.
But Hasnain, founder of eSports Pakistan, says Arsalan's success is due to his tireless hard work.
"If you ever see them play, you will understand why they are so successful," Hasnain said. I have seen Arsalan play for 16 hours straight, this guy never gets tired.
Although parents usually don't send them to Tekken centers because of the environment there, Arslan's parents supported him even in difficulties, which is probably the reason why Arslan credits his mother's prayers for winning Evo. '
From Droghewala to Las Vegas
Speaking to BBC Urdu, Arsalan said, "Winning Evo is the dream of any e-sports player because it is the biggest tournament in e-sports." The biggest achievement of your career is winning the Evo. It means a lot to me.
The importance of this victory can be estimated from the dramatic story of Arsalan, who at one time found it difficult to get out of Pakistan.
His luck came when a gamer in the United Arab Emirates, Muhammad Al-Banna, decided to open a company that would finance the region's best players so they could participate in competitions around the world.
Al-Banna invited Arslan to a tournament in Abu Dhabi where, coincidentally, then-EVO champion Holly Nee was also present. Arsalan shocked the world of e-sports by defeating him both times.
Albana said, "I am a gamer myself and I had seen Arsalan's videos, so I thought of sponsoring him because Arsalan had a lot of talent."
Arslan came to be known as the 'Anonymous God of Tekken' and thus Albanna's confidence in him was also restored. The next major competition in the world of Tekken was Evo Japan in Japan.
"Get me a ticket to Pakistan"
This match against Japan was perhaps the most difficult and nerve-racking match of Arslan's career. The reason for this was not because of the best players participating in the tournament, but because of their visa issues due to their being Pakistanis.
Arslan spent two days being transferred to different airports before Evo Japan. Waqas Ali, a gamer in V Slash's team in these competitions, says that he came to know about Arsalan's willpower that day.
He said that at one point he cried during the call and asked me to get a ticket to Pakistan.
Arslan arrived a few hours before the start of the tournament. Waqas said that 'Arsalan was very tired, he had dark circles under his eyes and I was wondering how he would be able to cope in this condition.'
But Arsalan beat all the players one by one and won the tournament.
Waqas said that I have never seen a player like him before, hardly anyone can show such courage and courage.
His sponsor Muhammad Al-Banna says that he did not expect Arsalan to perform so well.
"He surprised me too when he won two of the toughest tournaments in the world," he said.
I am very satisfied and I got a lot more than I thought.
"World Cup of Evo eSports"
Furqan Basharat, a resident of Sialkot and a gamer, told BBC Urdu that like the Cricket World Cup, Evo is the biggest tournament for e-sports.
He said that 'It is very competitive and it is a dream of gamers to win, it is so difficult to win.'
This year marks the first time in Tekken history that someone has won both Evo competitions in one year. This unique honor went to Arslan and he is the first winner in Tekken's history to enter and win both competitions for the first time.
The Evo tournament in Las Vegas featured 1,500 players across nine different games and spanned three days.
In the Tekken game, players fight with the help of fictional characters. Arslan usually plays the Tekken fictional character Kazumi, while in the final match, he was played by the Holy Nee Tekken character Kazuya. Incidentally, Kazumi and Kazuya's fictional relationship is that of mother and son.
Arslan's abilities can be gauged from the fact that they have never allowed Holy Nee to win in the past year.
What Happened in the Evo Finals?
It is important to mention here that Tekken becomes a very difficult game in such a big competition.
Furqan says the '3D' movement makes the game extremely difficult because if you make even one mistake, you can lose the entire round.
Before the final, Arslan was in the 'winner's bracket' meaning they had not lost a single match in the entire tournament. On the other hand, after defeat by Holy Nee Arslan, they were placed in the 'Loser Bracket'.
This means that Holy Nee had to beat Arslan twice to win the tournament, but they lost in the first match.
There are five sets in a match and five rounds in a set. Arsalan from Lahore played well.
After going down 2-1 after the first three sets, Ni thought of switching roles and decided to replace Kazuya with Devil Jin against Arslan's Kazumi.
This in itself was a psychological victory for Arslan. Commentators were also impressed with Arsalan's performance. He said that Arsalan's intelligence is impressive. He is one step ahead of his opponents at every opportunity. No one could stop Arsalan.
The popularity of Tech in Pakistan
Tekken is already a popular game in Pakistan and people are now also fond of watching live Tekken matches young people especially are seen playing it as entertainment.
Due to Arsalan's victories in the last year, Pakistan has gained global popularity. Even last month, Japanese player Karo Karo announced that he would come to Pakistan to learn the Pakistani style and practice with the players.
Hasnain, the co-founder of eSports Pakistan, says that because of Arsalan, people have come to know how much talent Pakistan has in terms of tech.
He said that the ease with which Arsalan won this tournament has focused the attention of gaming companies toward Pakistan.
Arsalan himself says that 'this win will have a great impact on e-sports in Pakistan as many sponsors are interested in sponsoring players in Pakistan.'
He gave a message to the parents of Tekken and other e-sports enthusiasts in Pakistan 'you spend so much money on the education of your children, so if someone is good at e-sports, he should also get a chance.'