After heated battles between Mzansi’s top fighting game players, Jabhi “JabhiM” Mabuza and Farouk “DaXpt” Suleman once again knocked out all their opponents and walked away as the 2022 Red Bull Hit the Streets champions for Street Fighter V and Tekken 7 respectively.
JabhiM went into the finals a crowd favourite and with a 5-0 win from the first match, but that didn’t stop Ren from giving it his all and putting up a good fight. Ren was a great opponent, with some strong mix-ups, but JabhiM secured the win for the fourth time in a row by playing some good defensive and offensive moves.
I was a bit nervous facing Ren because I am not that good at mix-ups and he’s great at them, but I surprised myself and managed to get myself out of them quite quickly every time,
commented four-time Red Bull Hit the Streets Street Fighter champion.
Everyone knows that Karen is my favourite character, so I decided to select a character people haven’t seen me play with, Chun Li, and it worked for me. I am looking forward to Red Bull Kumute 2023 and hoping to make it third time lucky for me,
he added.
Hosted by Sandile GQ Ntshingila and Sam ‘Tech Girl’ Wright at the V&A Amphitheatre in Cape Town, the seven best Street Fighter V and Tekken gamers from across South Africa went head-to-head for the ultimate prize. The two champions now have a chance to compete at Red Bull Kumite 2023, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world for fighting game competitors.
The Tekken 7 finals saw DaXpt and Callym go head-to-head in an intense and heated final match. Callym came out fighting strong, while DaXpt played the defense role. But after some fiery rounds, DaXpt showed why he walked away with last year’s title with some great fighting moves to take the lead by two rounds. Callym definitely went down fighting, but in the end, it was the 2021 champion who came out on top to become the Red Bull Hit the Street Tekken 7 champion for the second year.
I’m super excited to be the two-time Red Bull Hit the Streets Tekken 7 champion, and I cannot wait to represent South Africa at Red Bull Kumite 2023. My win last year was very convincing compared to this year – this year was full of back and forth which made it much more exciting,
commented DaXptpt
Aside from the hot action during the local National finals, highlights on the night included international gaming superstars, iDom and Mister Crimson battling it out in an exhibition match which was something of a rematch of the final of Red Bull Kumite 2021.
The road to the National Finals was not an easy one, with the regional qualifiers kicking off online on 3 December and concluding with a last-chance qualifier the day before the National Final. The grand final was streamed live on Red Bull’s Twitch page where gamers across the world tuned in to catch the action live.
