Pakistani Gamer Arslan Ash Wins Evo Japan 2023 Championship

Pakistan’s gaming prodigy Arslan “Ash” Siddique who was the first person ever to compete in international competitive tournaments of Tekken 7 won the Tekken 7 competition at EVO Japan 2023 on Sunday after beating South Korea’s Meo-IL. This was the first major tournament that he ever won and started his career by winning it in 2019.

“Winning Evo Japan was important because this is where it all began for me. So, I wanted to win the title again as no one else had won it since.”

【#EVOJ23 "TEKKEN 7"表彰式】

上位3名には賞金のほか、豪華副賞が贈られました🎁
どの試合も達人の間合いでひりつく緊張感がありました！
誠におめでとうございます‼️

🥇Arslan Ash
🥈Meo-IL
🥉Rangchu#EVOJapan2023 pic.twitter.com/EMEwY1OheE

— EVO Japan (@evojapan_info) April 2, 2023

Ash now has three EVO titles in total in his cape as he won his first one in 2019 in which he won the Tekken 7 tournament in Japan and the Evolution Championship Series in the United States. In August last year, he finished third in the EVO 2022 Tekken 7 competition.

Ash played the EVO 2023 final this Sunday played as Zafina to dominate Meo-IL, using Geese Howard, 3-0 in the tournament’s final leg. During the tournament final on Friday, Arslan — with the character Zafina — eliminated KDF | Meo-IL —whose player name was Geese — 3-0 to win the title. Arslan Ash was well aware of the tactics as Geese had remained his training partner. The winning moment felt like a dream for Arslan Ash, as he had been waiting for this for a long time.

Four years after winning Evo Japan 2019, Arslan Ash has been climbing his way to the top, and becoming the Evo Japan 2023 champion proves that he is here to stay.

2023 is proving to be a big year for Arslan Ash. The 27-year-old Tekken prodigy hailing from Lahore, Pakistan made his name in the gaming world with his consecutive gaming wins including Evo Japan. This year, Arslan Ash has once proven that he is at the top of his game by winning one of the biggest gaming tournaments: Evo Japan 2023.

Arslan officially started training for the tournament upon reaching Japan by practicing with fellow gamers a few days before the tournament commenced. Arslan describes Evo Japan as being one of the most important tournaments of his life.

Arslan Ash describes Japan as a place that he has always loved. He praised the country for holding such tournaments and giving importance to e-sports.

Performing at such a level and winning Tekken in the same country which created the game is a huge achievement that Arslan recognizes. During his Evo Japan journey, Arslan interacted and trained with many talented gamers and felt welcomed by them.

Besides winning tournaments and representing Pakistan all across the globe in gaming and Tekken 7 scene, Arsalan has also provided the gaming youth of Pakistan with the hope that it is possible to become top-level competitive gamers even if you are from Pakistan. He is the first ray of hope and inspiration for the kids of his nation.

According to the website for the tournament, EVO is the world’s biggest fighting game tournament with a long history where fighting game players from around the world gather in Las Vegas to compete against each other. It added that EVO Japan is another world championship in the same spirit as the main EVO tournament.

In February, another Pakistani, Atif Butt, emerged as the new “King of the Iron Fist” after winning the Tekken World Tour 2022 videogame tournament in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Butt was a member of the team founded by Ash himself.