Yusuke “Momochi” Momochi just put in a dominating performance at the Asia Premier, which was a Capcom Pro Tour Super Premier event held at the Tokyo Game Show.
This is Momochi’s second big tournament win of the year, with the first coming in February when he won EVO Japan 2019 by defeating Keita “Fuudo” Ai.
Momochi was undefeated throughout the tournament, taking out some of the best Street Fighter V pros on the planet to reach the grand finals, including Hiroki “Kichipa-Mu” Asano, Naoto “Sako” Sako, Ren “Johnny” Sato, Hiromiki “Itabashi Zangief” Kumada, and Amjad “Angry Bird” Alshalabi.
He met Kenryo “Mago” Hayashi in the grand finals, who defeated Adel “Big Bird” Anouche in a nailbiting 3-2 losers finals to get there.
Mago got off to a great start, taking the first game easily, which included a second-round perfect.
However, Momochi bounced back in game two, with textbook Kolin play, hit confirming his pokes and landing counter hits constantly.
Momochi kept up his perfect play in game three, and didn’t make a single mistake for the rest of the match. He had Mago completely figured out, and didn’t waste any opportunities.
- Kichipa-Mu’s unbelievable run with Zangief at PPL Fighter Masters 2019
- International Olympic Committee announces Intel World Open 2020 featuring Street Fighter V
Any time Mago tried to close the distance, Momochi would dance out of range or counterpoke with Kolin’s long-range back-heavy kick to halt his opponent’s offense.
At tournament point, Momochi found himself at a life deficit with a few seconds left in the round. Mago defended well but was hit by two back-heavy kicks, which tipped the life-lead towards Momochi and won him the tournament in spectacular fashion.
After the match, Momochi gave his honest opinion on his opponent, pointing out Mago’s inconsistency at tournaments. In response, Mago just laughed and shook his head.
For his first-place finish at Asia Premier, Momochi earned US$20,000 and 1,000 Capcom Pro Tour points, moving him up to fifth-place on the Global Leaderboard, with 1,650 total CPT points.
Mago won US$10,000 and 500 CPT points, moving him up to 14th with 875 points.