Zhen wins Red Bull Kumite Canada National Final: Results, Canadian FGC insights, and more

The Red Bull Kumite Canada National Final, also known as the Red Bull Kumite Canada Qualifier, has concluded with Zhen as the winner! The Street Fighter 6 tournament featured him alongside Michael "Mikex" Becker, Thunder "JOE UMEROGAN" De Langis, and Amin "Kaymin" Elsaad. By taking home the gold, Zhen earned a trip to the upcoming Red Bull Kumite New York event. There, he will duke it out against others for a spot in the main show on March 17!

In the semifinal, Zhen battled against Kaymin first. After going 3-1 in the Dee Jay versus Juri match, Zhen advanced to the upper-bracket final against Mikex. He pushed Mikex down to the elimination bracket, where the latter fought JOE UMEROGAN and won in a close 3-2.

When the grand final came around, Zhen and Mikex faced each other once more. After getting a score of 3-2, Zhen became the 2024 Red Bull Kumite Canada National Final champion! Street Fighter 6 fans cheered and congratulated him at the in-person event, and Zhen himself expressed excitement about going to New York afterwards.

One of the Street Fighter 6 fans at the in-person event was Sergio "Superserg22" Martinuzzi, whose main is E. Honda. In an interview with esports.gg, he shared his excitement about competitors from Capcom Cup X reuniting on the Canadian stage.

Superserg22 also went into what the fighting game community (FGC) is like in Toronto. He revealed that he attends local events whenever he gets the chance to do so. "I always attend in Toronto because we got to support Toronto. And I don't think it's ever that super serious. It's just a fun, friendly battle. And competition brings out the best in us," he said.

He also noted how Red Bull's Street Fighter 6 tournament and Capcom Cup X reinvigorated the local scene and the FGC as a whole.

Meanwhile, in another area of the Toronto Red Bull Gaming Studio, were attendees Roxana Rangel and Anthony "GorditoCrunch_" Delessandro. Unlike Superserg22, who is based in Toronto, the couple traveled all the way from Windsor. While Rangel is a fan of E. Honda, GorditoCrunch_'s favorite from the Street Fighter franchise is Dudley. This fighter is not in Street Fighter 6 yet, but GorditoCrunch_ has hope. Currently, GorditoCrunch_'s Street Fighter 6 main is Ryu.

"We watch a lot of these fights in our living room right on the TV, and it's just a fun experience. But being here in the Red Bull Gaming Studio — it's really cool to see it all manifest in person instead of watching it out of our living room," Rangel said.

GorditoCrunch_ agreed, emphasizing how far the Street Fighter scene has grown both online and offline. "I was exposed to Street Fighter 4 first, and seeing how the scene has grown from then to now is night and day," he said. "And watching it be exposed to bigger groups of people is awesome. Seeing the representation is really cool. Events like this are fantastic."

Both Rangel and GorditoCrunch_ also attended Capcom Cup X together, and the latter told esports.gg about how that event showcased fantastic Canadian talent.

"I'm mostly familiar with JOE UMEROGAN and Mikex, and they performed fantastically. I think they did really well. They represented Canada incredibly," GorditoCrunch_ said, adding that Capcom Cup X introduced these players to him. GorditoCrunch_ said Sayff impressed him as well. Sayff placed 7th in Capcom Cup X and later attended the Red Bull Kumite Canada National Final as a guest.

GorditoCrunch_ also shared insights with esports.gg about Windsor's FGC. Although the scene is not that big due to it being either a symptom of the city being smaller than Toronto or not, he would nonetheless love to see the Windsor FGC scene grow. He then observed that Windsor's scene revolves around fighting games in general and expressed his hope to discuss strategies for community growth with caster Michael "Yipes" Mendoza.

"Yeah, the anime fighters," GorditoCrunch_ continued, referring to the types of fighting games that are prevalent in Windsor. "There's also Granblue Fantasy. I know a lot of people are big fans of Tekken. There's a tournament that happens pretty frequently. I want to say it's once a week. It's the 'Smash Class' that happens at the St. Clair College Gaming Centre. Those guys hold it down. It's small, but it seems to be an incredible game."

That's it for Red Bull Kumite Canada National Final 2024, but stick around on esports.gg for more news and updates!