A TEKKEN World Tour event boiled down to a showdown between Korea and Japan for the second straight weekend. This time, it was Japan that came out on top.
Japanese star TAKE held off Korea's JeonDDing to win the FV Cup X South East Asia Major Malaysia title in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. TAKE earned the title - his first ever on the Tour - by beating the Korean star both the winners' final and the grand final.
The win gave TAKE and his fellow Japanese players a bit of redemption. Korean star and overall TEKKEN World Tour leader Knee beat TAKE, Nobi, and Noroma to win the Abuget Cup last weekend.
As one of the four players in the FV Cup field in position to qualify for the Tour Finals, TAKE was a popular pick to win his pool. He did so on Saturday, but not before surviving a stern test from Malaysia's Zaba. Once he reached Sunday's finals, however, he looked every bit the favorite.
TAKE scored a 2-0 win over Korean player Ulsan in a Kazumi mirror match. He advanced to the winners' final where he met JeonDDing and his Eddy. TAKE took the set by a 3-1 margin and secured his spot in the grand final. JeonDDing would earn another chance at the Japanese star, but the second meeting was a decisive 3-0 victory for TAKE. Not even a mid-set switch from Eddy to Lucky Chloe could slow TAKE 's momentum.
JeonDDing's second-place run was a strong bounceback performance after Abuget Cup, where he was eliminated during pool play. His second-place finish was enough to move him up to second place on the Tour leaderboard.
Ulsan finished in third place, which was his best finish of the season. His run was ended by JeonDDing, who scored a 3-0 win over Ulsan in the losers' final.
Nobi ended the weekend in fourth place. His run included wins over Zaba and Book, but he fell twice to Ulsan; once in pool play, and again in the losers' semifinal.
Thai star Book continues to make himself at home in the fifth-place position, as he finished there for the third consecutive weekend. He shared to position with Australian player Dee-On Grey, who celebrated his best-ever finish at an offline Tour event. Zaba recovered from his pool play loss to reach Sunday's finals and tie for seventh place alongside Pakistan's Bilal.
