Evo 2024 is slated to begin this weekend. The games that will be played throughout this event are Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Mortal Kombat 1, Guilty Gear Strive, The King of Fighters 15, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes, and Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.
Street Fighter 3: Third Strike’s return to Evo this year was particularly noteworthy considering that famous moment in which BST|Daigo Umehara was able to perfectly parry Chun-Li’s super art, controlled by Justin Wong, in a win or lose situation. This moment is now commonly referred to as Evo Moment 37.
Unfortunately, it’s beginning to sound like there’s a distinct possibility that Daigo may not be able to attend Evo this year. This is the result of some apparent visa issues.
Of course, this would be unfortunate considering the attention that Daigo was able to bring to the FGC thanks to how he originally pulled off Evo Moment 37 back in 2004.
Over on X (formerly known as Twitter), another player, CR|Dogura, stated that there’s still time for Japanese players to apply for an ESTA for the purpose of attending Evo 2024.
まだ間に合うので最後に言っときます。
EVO行く人はESTA申請してください！！！
やらないとアメリカ行けません！！！
ここからできるからまだの人いますぐやってください！！！gov/esta/
— どぐら (@maneater_dgr) July 15, 2024
Daigo then responded saying that he was unable to leave today, suggesting that he was unable to board a flight to America for the Evo 2024 event.
It’s a race against time, but Daigo does still have until Friday to obtain an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization), which is effectively a visa waiver for the purpose of traveling to the United States. He’d be temporarily permitted to travel to the United States without a visa.
ちゃんと、今日出発できなかったよ…
— 梅原大吾 (@daigothebeastJP) July 15, 2024
Jiyuna seemingly added some extra context to the situation. Apparently, Daigo forgot to apply for his visa and was unable to board his flight. Unfortunately, it’s a common thing for Japanese players to miss out on big events due to traveling issues.
Daigo forgot to apply for his US Visa and wasn’t allowed to board his flight to EVO. pic.twitter.com/1US3vZq1w5
— J I Y U N A (@jiyunaJP) July 15, 2024
The trip to EVO is known as “Round 0” because it’s just as difficult as the tournament. Last year there were serious plane delays and 20+ Japanese players almost missed EVO. A number of them ended up arriving Friday and rushing straight to their pools.
My favorite story though…
— J I Y U N A (@jiyunaJP) July 15, 2024
Leading up to this event, it was revealed that Evo 2024 has become the largest Street Fighter 3: Third Strike event of all time. Shortly afterwards, the final entrant numbers were revealed, indicating just how big this event would be.
As it turns out, 1,101 players have signed up to compete at Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, marking it as the fifth most popular game at the big event. Meanwhile, Street Fighter 6 predictably took the top spot with 5,265 entrants registered.
Evo 2024 presents us with not only an opportunity to see Daigo return to Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, but this could also be an opportunity to see how his Akuma is shaping up in Street Fighter 6 since he seemingly switched to him after he and the Season 2 patch were released.