At the "TEKKEN World Tour 2024" final tournament, the "Global Finals," held from Saturday, December 7, 2024, to Sunday, December 8, 2024, Rangchu of "VARREL" won the championship, becoming the first "Tekken 8" world champion.
Rangchu Wins "TEKKEN World Tour 2024"!
The "TEKKEN World Tour 2024," which began in April and saw fierce battles, finally held its final tournament, the "Global Finals," from Saturday, December 7, to Sunday, December 8, 2024.
This "TEKKEN World Tour" was a rare tournament, being the first to be held with the latest series title, "Tekken 8," and also the first final tournament to be held in Japan.
The "Global Finals" was conducted in a double-elimination format, divided into two groups: the Winners Tournament and the Losers Tournament, and Rangchu emerged victorious from the intense competition.
You can watch the matches from the top 8 onwards on YouTube, so please check out his magnificent performance!
Below are the 16 players who participated in the "Global Finals":
- KDF: CBM (South Korea)
- NAVI: Kkokkoma (South Korea)
- Ashes: The Jon (Pakistan)
- Dragons: Raef (Saudi Arabia)
- VARREL: Rangchu (South Korea)
- Liquid: Shadow20z (USA)
- Falcons: ATIF (Pakistan)
- TM/RB: Arslan Ash (Pakistan)
- HG: Danielmado (Italy)
- ZETA DIVISION: Keisuke (Japan)
- Divine Exorcist4 (Mexico)
- AFK: Shaoling (Côte d'Ivoire)
- TALON: Book (Thailand)
- theSAM-brother (Saudi Arabia)
- T1: EDGE (South Korea)
- FATE: Numan CH (Pakistan)
(The names before the colon indicate the affiliated team name or sponsor name).
Interview with Rangchu Immediately After His Victory!
An interview was conducted with Rangchu immediately after his victory, where he shared various insights into his feelings, memorable events, and how he switched gears during matches!
–Congratulations on your victory! Please tell us how you felt the moment you won.
Rangchu: I've been in good form recently, and everyone around me had high expectations, so I felt a lot of pressure and was quite nervous. The moment I won, I felt incredibly happy, thinking, "Now I've been able to meet everyone's expectations a little bit."
Since I live in Japan, many of my friends came to the venue to cheer me on. I could clearly see the people who were genuinely cheering for me from the stage, so that was really good.
(Translated from Japanese)
–Over the past year, while working on "Tekken 8," were there any memorable events or difficult experiences you encountered?
Rangchu: The character I use, Kuma, wasn't highly rated among players right after "Tekken 8" was released. I myself tried various ways to use him, but it wasn't going well.
Around this summer, I was quite lost, but I was able to overcome that, and it's great that I could connect it to today. Many of my teammates also gave me advice, and I'm incredibly grateful to those who regularly practice with me.
(Translated from Japanese)
–If you were to offer words of praise to Kuma, your character, what would come to mind?
Rangchu: Just one word, "Thank you" (laughs).
(Translated from Japanese)
–Throughout the day, we saw you achieve comeback victories from difficult situations many times. During matches, what did you think about to switch your mindset?
Rangchu: Even when I lost, I didn't feel like I lost because my own play was bad, so I just thought about trying my best not to lose focus.
Also, I think the cheers for me were much louder today than usual. Hearing that even through my headphones helped me keep going without giving up until the very end.
(Translated from Japanese)
For more details on "TEKKEN World Tour 2024," please check the "Tekken" Official News.
「#TWT2024 Global Finals」#鉄拳8 の初代世界王者👑が決定！
優勝は @rangchu123🐻 選手！#TWT2018 に次ぐ２度目の世界王者に！
ご来場いただいた皆さま、
配信をご視聴いただいた皆さま、
本当にありがとうございました！#TWT2025 でお会いしましょう！ https://t.co/vy4BCeYsiR pic.twitter.com/0r3ZYHM1s2— 【公式】鉄拳8 ＠鉄拳プロジェクト (@TEKKEN_Project) December 8, 2024