The legendary player propels himself to the top 3 of the global leaderboard. At Battle Arena Melbourne 15 (BAM 15), he defeated some of the strongest opponents.
The kick-off event of the TEKKEN World Tour 2025 (TWT 2025) did not go well for Pakistani players in general. Arslan Ash could not receive his Japanese visa, so he skipped Evo Japan 2025. ATIF and other competitors were unable to travel to Tokyo due to a dangerous conflict in their home country.
It feels like the regional community has recovered from the initial hits — as true fighting games pros do. ATIF reached the top 2 at Combo Breaker 2025, which was the first Master event of TWT 2025. And now, Arslan Ash won the second such tournament in the yearly schedule: it’s the first win for the player at a Master 2025 qualifier.
At BAM 15, Arslan Ash played his TEKKEN 8 main character, Nina Williams. In the brackets, he faced a few esports powerhouses, specifically from Japan and South Korea.
Arslan Ash on top, again: TEKKEN 8 BAM 15
Battle Arena Melbourne 15 happened in Australia from May 31 to June 1. As a Master-tier TWT 2025 qualifier, the tournament gathered some of the best players in the world.
Knee, the winner of TEKKEN 8 Evo Japan 2025, entered the top 8 part via the losers brackets. This time, his Bryan was crushed by the animal fury of Rangchu’s Kuma. Then, Rangchu defeated the winner of EVO Japan 2024, chikurin — to face Arslan Ash in the losers' semifinal.
Arslan Ash also was in the losers of TEKKEN 8 BAM 15. His starting matches were pretty tough. Arslan defeated Kazuya of KEISUKE, who was in the top 8 of TEKKEN 8 Evo 2024, and Steve of Nobi, who won DreamHack Dallas 2024.
In both these matches, the opponents won the opening game, but Arslan Ash managed to recover.
To advance to the grand final, Arslan Ash won a match over Rangchu, the TWT 2024 Champion. That was a nice recreation of their previous clash at the first big TEKKEN 8 Season 2 tournament.
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Another opponent for Arslan Ash was the TEKKEN 8 Esports World Cup 2024 winner, ULSAN. Switching from Dragunov to Lars and Reina did not help ULSAN win even one game.
The grand final opponent at the TEKKEN 8 BAM 15 tournament was another Pakistani player. On his Victor, Farzeen defeated Nobi and ULSAN on the winners side. It's great progress for the player! He was 3rd at TEKKEN 8 Combo Breaker 2024 but was stopped — sure, by Arslan Ash. Beyond that, his results are rather shaky.
Farzeen won two games and was on the match and tournament points, but Arslan Ash did not let the dream come true. He reset the brackets and then celebrated a clear 3:0 victory.
Results and matchups
The top 8 brackets of the TEKKEN 8 esports tournament at Battle Arena Melbourne 15 are shown in the table below: including the results and the characters.
Winner Semifinals | Winners Final | Grand Final | Grand Final Reset |
|---|---|---|---|
| chikurin 0:2 ULSAN Clive vs Lars | ULSAN 2:3 Farzeen Lars vs Victor | Farzeen 2:3 Arslan Ash Victor vs Nina | Farzeen 0:3 Arslan Ash Victor, Reina vs Nina |
| Farzeen 2:1 Nobi Victor vs Lars |
Losers Round 1 | Losers Quarterfinals | Losers Semifinal | Losers Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| KEISUKE 1:2 Arslan Ash Kazuya vs Nina | Nobi 1:2 Arslan Ash Steve vs Nina | Arslan Ash 3:1 Rangchu Nina vs Kuma | ULSAN 0:3 Arslan Ash Dragunov, Lars, Reina vs Nina |
| Knee 1:2 Rangchu Bryan vs Panda, Kuma | chikurin 0:2 Rangchu Clive, Lili vs Panda |
Thanks to this win, Arslan Ash reached the 3rd place on the TWT 2025 global leaderboard. He has 890 points after BAM 15. Only Mulgold, the winner of TEKKEN 8 Combo Breaker 2025, and Knee are above: with 1,240 and 1,250 points respectively.
The next big TEKKEN 8 esports tournament is right around the corner! CEO 2025 happens from June 13 to June 15 in Orlando, Florida. The event features a TWT Master-tier qualifier. All the top players have registered for it, including Arslan Ash, ATIF, Rangchu, ULSAN, Mulgold, Knee, and others.
Before that tournament, we will receive the next big update: Patch 2.02 is out on June 2. For all TEKKEN 8 news and updates, stick around on esports.gg.
