Alexandre “AK” Laverez won his first Tekken 8 international tournament after defeating the reigning Tekken World Tour Finals 2023 champion, Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique of Pakistan, 3-2, in the grand finals of Combo Breaker 2024 held in Schaumburg, Illinois.
AK went undefeated from Round 1-3 pool play to reach the winner’s bracket quarterfinals, where he swept Japanese bet Daichi “Nobi” Nakayama before defeating Jeong “Rangchu” Hyeon-ho (Korea) and Muhammad “Farzeen” Farzeen in the winner’s bracket semifinals and winner’s bracket finals to reach the title round with a twice-to-beat incentive.
In the grand finals, Arslan Ash grabbed a 2-1 series lead and was holding on to a 2-1 lead in Game 4 when AK mounted a comeback to force a Game 5.
With the final match reaching Round 5, AK executed combos to put away the Pakistani representative and secure his first international title since winning the ICFC Asia Fall 2022 #7.
It was a true Cinderella story for AK, who missed numerous international tournaments in the US after having his visa application denied multiple times over the years.
