Tekken's AK finishes 4th in last chance qualifier for World Tour

MANILA, Philippines — It was a valiant effort for Filipino Tekken star Alexandre "AK" Laverez as he finished fourth in the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) for the Tekken World Tour Finals in Tokyo, Japan over the weekend.

Entering the main tournament as he part of the top 20 players in tour's leaderboard, Laverez had been ranked sixth and was seeded in Group C, with Saudi Arabia's Raef "Raef" Alturkistani, South Korea's Yoon "LowHigh" Sun-woong, Japan's Shoji "double" Takakubo and former world tour champion South Korea's Jeong "Rangchu" Hyeon-ho.

The draw saw Laverez only secure a win over Alturkistani, failing to make the top 16 and being dropped to the LCQ to go up against 500 players in the hopes of making it to the final round.

Laverez had won the winner's bracket for most of the LCQ but dropped to the lower bracket after losing to South Korea's Lee "EDGE" Ju-hyung. Laverez kept his campaign alive with a win over South Korea's Jeon "Jeondding" Sang-hyun but he settled for fourth place after falling tp South Korea's Han "Mulgold" Jae-gyun.

"Salamat sa dami ng pusong binigay nyo, 4th out of 576 players tayo," said Laverez in a post on social media after his loss.

Laverez's 2024 run saw the Filipino win his first major international championship — the Combo Breaker 2024 last May —  and sign with esports team Natus Vincere (NAVI) last June.