Esports World Cup Tekken 8 LCQ: Numan Ch dominates upper bracket

We have our final four qualifying players at the Tekken 8 last chance qualifier (LCQ) for the Esports World Cup. Team Falcons’ Nauman “Numan Ch” Chaudhry stood out in the top 8 shootout, going through three tough matchups in a row while dropping just a single set throughout. Playing Steve for the upper bracket semifinal and then switching to Paul for the home stretch, Numan Ch really put everyone on notice — especially legendary player Son “qudans” Byeong-mun whom he faced in the upper bracket final and later on in the grand final match.

Speaking of qudans, we saw him play Heihachi for most of the LCQ tournament, only to switch to his signature Devil Jin for the grand finals. He found success with the character at the SOOP Tekken League back in his home country of South Korea just a few weeks ago, where he pulled off the win against Choi “Breadman” Min-woo’s Leroy. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite enjoy the same level of success with Devil Jin this time around, as Numan Ch had his number in the grand finals with a clean 3-0 sweep.

He’s the Nu-man

Numan Ch definitely deserves the credit for navigating his way through a player of qudans’ caliber, especially considering that qudans himself has been on a tear over the past month or so. Even better still, he did it twice in very convincing fashion, as he was seemingly unfazed by the fact that he had to face one of the godfathers of Korean Tekken.

Alhamdulillah qualified for EWC 🥊@FalconsEsport pic.twitter.com/1iLTcTE3g2

— FALCON | Numan Ch (@tk_numanch) August 9, 2025

Having the mental fortitude to not only go toe-to-toe with qudans but actually sweep him in the grand finals could not have been easy, but the Pakistani hopeful managed to keep himself steady throughout the series. Playing a character that wasn’t his main was also quite admirable, as it takes a load of guts to suddenly pivot away from what you’re used to with a spot at the Esports World Cup on the line.

Thankfully, this isn’t the end of the road for qudans at the Esports World Cup, because the LCQ itself actually takes the top four players from the tournament and seeds them into the tournament proper. On that note, Qasim Meer and Kim “Kkokkoma” Mu-jong have also earned themselves spots in the main tournament, despite coming in at just third and fourth, respectively.

Consolation prizes

Other notable players that came close to qualifying include Marquis “Shadow 20z” Jordan, Shoji “Double” Takakubo, Georges “Jodd” Nguende, and Park “Rest” Chang-seob. I personally had my eye on Rest throughout the top 64, as he was actually going through the lower bracket like a hot knife through butter after he got knocked down by Shadow 20z. He also played Hwoarang exclusively throughout the LCQ, who happens to be one of the best characters in the game right now. He eventually got eliminated by Qasim Meer, who went on to place third overall.

Everyone that placed in the top 24 at least will go home with some prize money, though everyone else that didn’t make the cut will go home empty-handed.