Tekken World Tour 2022 concluded earlier this month, offering some exciting competitive matches in its massive tournament. We recently got to chat with The Ultimate Gaming Championships (or UGC) South Africa for a glimpse into the event, what they experienced and what it means for professional South African tournaments in the future – especially on the verge of Tekken 8‘s arrival.
Hosting several FGC tournaments locally, UGC ZA quickly rose to become one of the most hard-working tournament organisers in the country, putting on great events that in many cases, even rival the international ones. UGC co-runners and brothers Umar and Junayd Bradlow were lucky enough to jet off to the Netherlands to experience the exciting climactic moments of Tekken World Tour this year, meet the great Katsuhiro Harada in person and learn some fascinating details about how international tournaments are staged.
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According to Umar, there’s not a massive difference between the staging of local and international tournaments. Being there to witness the Tekken World Tour – especially since Tekken is one of the UGC’s tentpole fighters – was an exhilarating experience but most importantly, it showed them that South Africa really isn’t that far behind with its production quality on these events.
Having been to DNLE last year, I got a first-hand look at the tremendous work that UGC pours into their tournaments. Local tournaments are magnificently prepared with full commentary from casters, crowd reactions and set-ups that are quite professional, matching the same energy and enthusiasm of international tournaments. It felt great just to be a part of that energetic crowd, which was all-in on the great Tekken 7 matches unfolding.
Of course, crowd energy is on a much larger scale in tournaments like Tekken World Tour. This is the culmination of tournaments held across the globe that brought together some of the best Tekken players in the world. According to Umar and Junayd, the atmosphere was fantastic and brought a level of exhilaration that’s not often seen in other tournaments. However, the biggest takeaway for UGC wasn’t just the overall experience, but the few things picked up that could improve the local scene as well.
As they mentioned before, the production quality between locally hosted tournaments and the international ones are actually closer than you think, which is very telling of the effort the team puts into producing and staging their events. Being there as South Africans opened up new and exciting possibilities as global creators, competitors and producers all noticed that South Africa is on the map and doing it’s own excellent work in the fighting game community.
That South African recognition extended into the tournament itself. Local Tekken player Callym Beukes impressively rose up the ranks in Group B. Even though he would lose, he ended putting up a good fight against the South Korean player JeonDDing, who went on to compete in the grand final. Pakistan player Atif Butt from Ashes Gaming ended up sweeping the big victory, though, but Callym Beukes still managed – out of hundreds of international players – to land in the 21st to 24th position bracket and walk away with $500.
It’s honestly pretty awesome to see local talent representing South Africa in tournaments as large as Tekken World Tour. Not only does it show that we have the players to compete against some of the heavy-weights of the scene, but we also have a dedicated and thriving community here hungry for competition and eager to earn a place in the history books. For Umar and Junayd, Callym represented some of the best of what South Africa has to offer, but they also saw this as a way to continue nurturing the local scene in order to mould potential star players like Callym Beukes.
Being there in-person, Umar and Junayd also got to witness the awesome reveal of Nina Williams coming to Tekken 8, as well as see footage of the anticipated upcoming fighting game on the big screen. In Junayd’s words, he lost his mind when King appeared, who is one of the confirmed fighters for the game. Apart from being UGC’s most antcipated game right now, Tekken 8 is also one of the most anticipated games globally, promising an evolution of Tekken 7 thanks to new, aggressive mechanics and a stylish presentation.
UGC also got a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada at Tekken World Tour. Umar and Junayd talked about the star-struck feeling of meeting Harada who was his usual self, deflecting and parrying any and all questions regarding Tekken 8. Jokes aside, they did get a couple of Tekken TUBBZ Duck collectibles signed by Harada which was an awesome souvenir to bring home.
For UGC, however, the work continues back home. Having a new perspective of the international scene and seeing globally staged events gave them ideas about how to improve the local scene and its tournaments, from upgrading the sound quality to refining streams and emphasising crowd reactions – the heart and soul of any tournament experience. Most of all, this is another chance to prove to the world that South Africa still has what it takes.
Follow UGC ZA on Twitter and YouTube. Check out their experience in the video below.
