VSFighting X: UK players perform well as FGC event returns to Birmingham, JoKa finishes runner-up in Tekken 7

UK city Birmingham played host to fighting game community (FGC) event VSFighting X last weekend – and UK talent took some top-four finishes in multiple games.

It was the first physical VSFighting X event after a two-year break following the pandemic, and brought the European fighting game community together once again. The event was held at Millennium Point.

Local Birmingham player JoKa (pictured above) placed second in the Tekken 7 World Tour after a narrow loss to Pakistan’s Arslan Ash (representing Fate Esports) in the final.

Arslan Ash took home home two first-place finishes – one in Tekken 7 and the other in King of Fighters XV.

In the other major fighting game at VSFighting X, Street Fighter V, the UK’s JeSTeRPoWeR amd EndingWalker finished second and third respectively, with 5th to 8th made up of UK players too (akaJoness, geniuskid, Boltstrike and JoKeR JoKeZ.

The UK also picked up wins in six smaller and/or retro games:

• Scotty2salty (Street Fighter III: Third Strike)
• Zain (Ultra Street Fighter IV)
• GolcarJack (Super Street Fighter II Turbo)
• SsyluS-SC (Soul Calibur VI)
• Spartan Throne (Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3)
• NeonKay64 (Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown)

Elsewhere, in Guilty Gear Strive, UK players Setchi and Tiger_Pop finished third and fourth respectively, while that tournament was won by French player Skyll.

MysticSmash finished second in DNF Duel, with SWW_Rycroft finishing fourth (both players being British), and the overall winner was Japan’s GO1.

And lastly, UK players SUPA and InfernoKong finished third and fourth in the King of Fighters XV.

As expected for a UK FGC audience, the crowd were incredible for VSFightingX as they watched some of the best fighting game players compete.

Earlier this year, Arslan Ash featured in Red Bull Golden Letters, a London-based Tekken 7 LAN, an event that saw UK player AyoRichie win Red Bull Golden Letters.

Photo credit: Jacob Flannery, @VisualsbyJacob

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.