At South East Asia Major 2017 in Singapore, reigning champion Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi of Echo Fox refused to cede his title, beating Zowie's Li-Wei "Oil King" Lin in a back-and-forth grand finals.
Tokido was the one who sent Oil King into losers bracket; and quickly back to take revenge in the grand finals, Oil King won a contentious Round 1. But even in that round, with Tokido at minimal health, Oil King was playing defensively and cautiously, knowing that Tokido had the ability to turn it around.
Much of the grand finals was like that first match. Oil King was playing with a level of caution while Tokido showed confidence. And with the grand finals set at 2-2, all Tokido needed was one more game to take the tournament while Oil King was hoping to reset the bracket. But the last game was dominated by Tokido, as he didn't lose a round, and took the tournament 3-2, staving off a bracket reset.
One notable match from Top 8 was losers finals with Oil King and Ponos' Naoki "moke" Nakayama going at it in a Rashid ditto. The set was tied at 2-2, with each player alternating combos. But in the midst of tornadoes, it was an overhead drop combo by Oil King that finished the set. Oil King would not only remain the best player from Taiwan, but the best Rashid in the world.
All of Singapore's hopes were put in Razer's Kun Xian "Xian" Ho, who ended up placing fourth after losing to Ponos' Naoki "moke" Nakkayama. Xian was the only Singaporean to make it into Top 8, with every player -- the exception being Oil King who is from Taiwan -- hailing from Japan.
This marks Tokido's third major win of the year. With the Evolution Championship Series 2017, Brooklyn Beatdown Round 2, and now SEAM 2017 under his belt, he will be the player to beat at Capcom Cup this December in Anaheim, California.
