Filipino Tekken standout falls in World Tour Finals

MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino Tekken star Alexandre "AK" Laverez stumbled in his last hurdle to the Tekken World Tour Finals 2023, falling to the United States' Joe "JoeCrush" Olveda, 1-3, at The Civic Theatre in New Orleans last January 12 (January 13 in Manila) during the tour's Last Chance Qualifiers.

Lavarez, who won a silver medal in the International Esports Federations' World Esports Championship last September, had been denied a chance to compete in the Evolution Championship Series (EVO 2023) last August after his visa application was denied. EVO 2023 had key points that would have given Lavarez enough points to qualify to the Tekken World Tour.

Laverez bested 32 other players in his Bracket B4 pool and then saw three consecutive match wins to make it to the Upper Bracket Finals only to be stopped by Olveda, 1-3.

Lavarez managed to deny an all North American final, dispatching Phi "PhiDX" Lam, 3-1, to set-up a rematch with Olveda.

The Pinoy Tekken star, onced dubbed "The Tekken Prodigy", managed to avenge his earlier loss at the hands of the American 3-1, forcing Olveda to waste his twice to beat advantage and resetting the grand finals to a best-of-one match-up.

With both players staying with their comfort characters, Olveda took a 2-0 lead against Lavarez. The Filipino Tekken medalist managed to prolong the series by taking the third round but Olveda eventually survived to take the last slot for the Tekken World Tour, 1-3.

Lavarez previously qualified for the 2022 edition of the Tekken World Tour Finals after taking the top spot of the 2022 leaderboard for the Philippines and East Asia region. He bowed out at 13th-16th after ending the group stages at fourth place in group D.