Cebuano veteran dominates Road to The Nationals’ ‘Tekken 7’ Qualifiers

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Francis Steven Valencia “UFTC Gogoy” Cabahug defeated his opponent Xavier Giovanni “Gio” Galon with a Perfect final round to become the Cebu Representative in the Road to The Nationals Tekken 7 tournament.

The Cebu tournament leg was held on Saturday, September 22. 

Gogoy rode high to his Top 8 finish, and had to defeat his friend and training partner, Alexander “PBE Bully” Lim, in order to secure the coveted twice-to-beat advantage heading into the Finals.

Gio travelled from Bacolod in the hopes of winning the tournament. Having been sent to the Lower Bracket by Gogoy, Gio took on the difficult task of fighting through the lower pools; including powering through Bully – his penultimate assignment on the way to the top.

The stage was set for Gio’s Master Raven to face off against Gogoy’s Xiaoyu.

In match 1 of the first round, Gogoy delivered a masterclass on Xiaoyu performing the character’s signature mixups and combos effortlessly. While Gio was able to sneak in two wins, Gogoy was able to secure a round with back-to-back Perfects.

In the third and fourth round, Gio managed to hang on as he delivered a spirited rout of Gogoy’s mixups that extended the Grand Finals of the Cebu Leg.

However, Gogoy never lost his cool. He ended the first-ever Road to The Nationals Tekken 7 leg in his favor. 

“Having Tekken 7 included in the lineup for Road to The Nationals is the first step to bring our vision of getting our local talents to a bigger stage. We’re a Tekken Country, and it’s only fitting we cultivate and challenge our players in preparation for the ultimate goal: reaping medals at the Olympics,” Joebert Yu, President of the Esports National Association of the Philippines (ESNAP) added.

Gogoy is no stranger to Tekken and its current incarnation, Tekken 7. The Cebuano veteran has been one of the fighting game community’s well-known members.

The Cebuano champion will now wait on the representatives from the following Tekken 7 legs:

• September 29 in Davao
• September 30 in Cagayan De Oro
• October 6 in Makati
• October 13 in Marikina
• October 14 in Makati

The Tekken 7 tournament is just another historic step in the Philippines’ bid for international recognition – and the Road to The Nationals seeks to discover the best esports athletes in the country for this very purpose.

“The Road to The Nationals was created with a goal to discover and showcase the best gaming talent that our country has to offer. The eSports universe is vast, and largely driven by its different gaming communities. The inclusion of Tekken 7 is part of our efforts to provide ample representation for fighting games, and to give fans the action-packed, entertaining matches that they deserve,” Vincent P. Reyes, President and CEO of TV5 and one of the proponents for the tournament, shared.

The Road to The Nationals DOTA 2 Qualifiers and Tekken 7 Qualifiers are both ESNAP sanctioned events.

In the Bacolod leg of the DOTA 2 tournament, Cebuano team Voyager finally picked the win over Bacolod team Viggo.net. Voyager was initially unsuccessful in their bid to become the Cebu representatives, but found their second chance in Bacolod.

Voyager will join Quid Pro Quo, Davao’s Pride, Sterling Global Dragons, and Polar Ace as the fifth team to go appear at ESGS 2018 for the Road To The Nationals DOTA 2 Finals.

The remaining DOTA 2 legs for The Road To The Nationals will be on September 29 at LocalHost Café in IloIlo and October 13 at UGZ in Imus, Cavite. – Rappler.com