Kengo “KEN” Suzuki won Super Smash Bros Ultimate Singles at Kagaribi in Tokyo, Japan on December 13. Unlike many other Japanese tournaments, the event featured best-of-five sets throughout all of top 48. Despite the increased number of games needed to win, KEN still won without dropping a single game.
KEN’s smooth ride through pools would not have been hard to predict. He defeated Yoshimoto “Don” Dobashi, “Kintero,” and “murasat.” Then, on the way to top 8, KEN beat “Mao” and Tomoki “kept” Ikeda.
KEN faced and defeated an unexpected opponent in Winners Semis, the Falco main “MASA.” He had to overcome his toughest opponents yet in Winners Finals and Grand Finals. Still, KEN dominantly conquered both Sota “Zackray” Okada and Seisuke “Kome” Komeda in order to win Kagaribi.
KEN’s results have steadily improved since the return of offline tournaments in Japan. Previously, he placed 3rd at the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational and 2nd at Mēsuma. Now, his performances have culminated with a 1st place finish at Kagaribi.
Other results from Kagaribi
Kagaribi marked Zackray’s first time losing a tournament since offline events returned in October. Even so, Zackray secured a respectable 3rd place finish. In the process, he beat “Manzoku,” “tk3,” and Kome, while losing to KEN and Kome.
Haoka “shky” Toshiki lost his second set of the tournament to “Narisawa.” Despite this early setback, shky made an incredible losers run in order to place 4th. On the road to top 16, he eliminated “DoubleA,” Kohei “Suinoko” Kuwamoto, and Mao. From there, shky defeated “Tet,” tk3, Gakuto “Gackt” Ito, and MASA.
Despite being a relatively little-known player, MASA had an incredible run to 5th place at Kagaribi. In pools, MASA upset “Akabuchi” and Takuto “Kameme” Ono. Then, MASA cruised into winners side of top 8 with convincing wins over “Nemugaki” and “Jagaimo.”
Like shky, Kameme lost in pools at Super Smash Bros Ultimate Singles Kagaribi. Nevertheless, he had a solid run that took him all the way to 5th place. Kameme started his run by beating “Kamisuke,” Yūma “Yamanaction” Yamana, and Yutaro “Paseriman” Nagumo. In addition, he secured wins against Manzoku, kept, and Jagaimo.