Thaiger Uppercut 2024 was set to be the final event on the Tekken World Tour 2024 over this weekend leading up to the Tekken World Tour 2024 Global Finals in December. Unfortunately, one player’s run was cut short on the winners side due to a bizarre technicality that prohibited players from China competing in the Tekken World Tour.
The Tekken World Tour 2024 regulations are very specific in terms of the regions in which players may come from to compete during the tournament series. As such, the list of permitted territories are North America, Central America, South America, West Europe, East Europe, West Africa, South Africa, North & East Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, Central & South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, Korea, and Japan. None of these territories include countries such as China, Russia, or Belarus.
Of course, Essence|XCC, the 18-year-old Chinese player who got disqualified, did not run into any issues upon signing up for Thaiger Uppercut 2024. Throughout his run, he was even able to cause a few upsets by defeating strong players such as QAD|Yagami and T1|Edge, the the 20th and 29th seeded players respectively.
Just short of making top 8 on the winners side, XCC ended up being double disqualified, allowing Liquid|Shadow20z and Falcons|Farzeen to advance for free. Needless to say, XCC’s sudden disqualification had some major ramifications for the tournament bracket.
This was especially disappointing as XCC had just been picked up by Essence as a competitive Tekken player. So long as this ruling was in place, XCC would not be permitted to compete in the Tekken World Tour.
Due to the backlash that followed, this led to Bandai Namco releasing a statement in which they confirmed the reasons as to why XCC was disqualified. They also acknowledged the disappointment this decision would have amongst the community.
Now that a few days have passed, Bandai Namco has released a new statement in which they attempt to rectify the situation. Bandai Namco has declared that they’ll be reaching out directly to the affected players to cover their travel and accommodation expenses. This will likely be extended to Yagami, Edge, and XCC, as well as other players that were sent to the losers bracket by XCC.
Furthermore, the rules have now been amended to allow Chinese players to compete at the Last Chance Qualifier event for the Tekken World Tour 2024 Global Finals. Bandai Namco ends up naming XCC directly by inviting him to compete at said event.
Moving forward, Bandai Namco intends to update the Tekken World Tour 2025 rules to allow Chinese players to compete at future events. This should hopefully ensure that this problem won’t come up again.
Bandai Namco’s released statement
We sincerely apologize for disappointing our players and community due to the disqualification at hte recent Thaiger Uppercut Event.
After careful consideration, for the Tekken World Tour 2024 Global Finals, we will update the official rules to allow players from China to compete via the Last Chance Qualifier.
For the affected players from the Thaiger Uppercut event, we will be reaching out to cover their travel and accommodation expenses. We will also be inviting XCC to Tokyo to compete in the Last Chance Qualifier.
Looking ahead, we will review and improve our tournament operations and official rules for the Tekken World Tour 2025 to ensure a more enjoyable experience, where more people, including players from China, can participate and earn the right to advance to the finals.