UK player Shakz fifth at Street Fighter Kinds of the World event
31 December 2024
The PUBG Mobile Global Championship finals, the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) London Major, the Counter-Strike BLAST Premier Spring final, and we could go on for a while here. What we’re trying to say is that 2024 was another good year for esports in the UK and that line will be continued until the very end of December. Just a few days ago, for example, the highly anticipated Kings of the World event for Street Fighter 6 was held in London. The tournament was won by South Korean ace Seo “Armperor” Jin-Woo and there was some British success as well, as Shakil “Shakz” Ghazi managed to clinch a very respectable fifth place.
Kings of the World finals in London
The Kings of the World event, which was given a prize pool worth $ 5.200, was held in London over the weekend over December 14 and 15, 2024. It featured 200 of the best Street Fighter 6 players in the world, including French member of Karmine Corp Kilyan “Kilzyou” Faucheux, the previously mentioned “Armperor”, and Chinese specialist Ding “DCQ” Yuhan, just to name a few. Several UK players competed as well, including UFA 2022 winner “EndingWalker”, Guild Esports athlete Assad “Suleymon” Suliman, and of course, Shakil “Shakz” Ghazi, who would eventually finish as the highest-placed UK player at Kings of the World.
The glory went to “Armperor” though, as the Korean managed to fight back after being eliminated from the Upper Bracket in the Finals by “Kilzyou”. This meant that he had to face Chinese player “DCQ”, who had made his way to the Losers Final through the entire Losers Bracket. It was “Armperor” who managed to get a hold of himself after losing the Winners Final and beat “DCQ”. This meant that he qualified for the Grand Final, where he would once again meet “Kilzyou”.
Just as in the Winners Final, which the Frenchman won, “Kilzyou” started with Juri, while “Armperor” stuck with his trusted Ken. In a best-of-3 format, the Korean started off strong, winning the first battle 1-3. His opponent then switched Juri for Cammy and while it helped him win the first fight of the second battle, “Armperor” managed to take back the initiative and eventually dispose of him with a 2-3 victory. Even briefly switching back to Juri did not help “Kilzyou” to avoid defeat in the Kings of the World Grand Final.
“Shakz” proud of performance
The best performance by a player from the United Kingdom was given by “Shakz”, who managed to clinch fifth place at Kings of the World in London. He was eliminated in Losers Round 2 by Japanese player Naoki “moke” Nakayama, which meant he unfortunately also finished just outside the money. The first player to get a piece of the prize pool was fourth-placed “moke”, who took home $ 700.
“Finished in 5th place at Kings of the World CPT”, Shakz wrote on his own X account, “GGs to moke and Kilzyou. It was a strong run, but unfortunately, not enough to qualify. Proud to have made it this far representing my hometown. Huge thanks to everyone who showed support and reached out, means a lot”