It’s not every day that you see a world champion in Italy, especially if we’re talking about one of the most representative players in his own country: Arslah Ash, Pakistani, is a true national hero in his homeland, capable of gathering around him the entire gaming community and beyond. And it doesn’t matter if he’s not an excellence in mainstream titles such as League of Legends or Counter-Strike: because even Tekken and fighting games in general have their importance and Ash is the best in the world. Who decided to participate in Only The Best, the main Italian fighting game event.
Tekken and more
Now in its sixth edition, for this year Only The Best has moved from Naples, its usual home, to Turin. From 21st to 23rd June the best players on the fighting games scene met in Piedmont for the event organized by Fabrizio “Bode” Tavassi and Simone “Magistrix” Balbi with four titles present: in addition to Tekken, in fact, also Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Guilty Gear-Strive and Street Fighter 6. The highlight, however, was obviously Tekken 8 with its inclusion in the official Challenger stages of the Tekken World Tour.
The whole world in Turin
An event that brought over 340 participants from 19 countries around the world to the former capital of Italy, including Koreans, Saudis and Ecuadorians. In Tekken, two Italians made it to the Top 8, Danielmado, the reigning 2023 champion, and Erniebowl. The podium instead went entirely to Asia with Arslah Ash, the reigning Tekken world champion, winning over the Korean Mulgold. Third place instead for Ulsan, Mulgold’s teammate at Kwangdong Freecs. The German Tetsu, the first European in the ranking, closed the Top 4.
I numeri in streaming
There was also an excellent following of the event on Twitch. Over the course of two days with almost 20 hours of live streaming, the tournament had over 20,000 unique viewers, with peaks of 2,500 simultaneous viewers and an average of around 1,000 viewers. An important and significant media result that contributes to the constant growth of this now international but all-Italian event that makes esports enthusiasts in the country proud.
