Japan Cup 2016
Japan Cup 2016, held at Tokyo Game Show in Tokyo, Japan on September 17th through 18th, has reported its results and Taiwan’s ZW|GamerBee has taken 1st place! Because Japan Cup 2016 is a Premier Event in the Capcom Pro Tour, GamerBee’s win earns him an automatic qualifying spot to Capcom Cup 2016 in December! South Korea’s Secret|Poongko has taken 2nd place and Japan’s GGP|Kazunoko, last year’s Capcom Cup winner, took 3rd place. Check out the rest of the Japan Cup 2016 Results.
If you missed any of the action, be sure to visit our videos page, where we have a playlist for matches from Japan Cup 2016!
Japan Cup 2016 Results: Top 16
| Placing | Handle | Characters | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ZW|GamerBee | Necalli | 256 |
| 2nd | Secret|Poongko | Cammy | 128 |
| 3rd | GGP|Kazunoko | Cammy | 64 |
| 4th | Rinta | Ken | 32 |
| 5th | MOV | Chun-Li | 16 |
| 5th | Mago | Karin | 16 |
| 7th | Gachikun (Gattikun) | Rashid | 8 |
| 7th | HM|Eita | Ken | 8 |
| 9th | Cojiro | Chun-Li | 4 |
| 9th | John Takeuchi | Rashid | 4 |
| 9th | HORI|Sako | Chun-Li | 4 |
| 9th | Hikarin | Necalli | 4 |
| 13th | BegetaminB | Chun-Li | 2 |
| 13th | HM|Go1 | Chun-Li | 2 |
| 13th | Kichipa-mu | Zangief | 2 |
| 13th | Nauman | Ken | 2 |
Japan Cup 2016 Highlights
After more than a month without a Premier Event we are back again with Japan Cup 2016, which is this year’s Tokyo Game Show event. Japan Cup’s format is a bit different from other Premier Events. The tournament is limited to 256 players who are invited to take part, with some spots filled by lottery. The result is that even though it doesn’t have player numbers in the thousands like some previous Premier Events, the level of competition even down in the pools is incredibly high. Not only that, but Tokyo Game Show has a history for having unknown players come out of the woodwork to stun everybody.
As a case in point, a relatively unknown F.A.N.G. player named Keijin put on quite a show in pools, and even defeated one of the best players in the world, YOUDEAL MJS|Haitaini in pools!
Rinta
Another example of a player who came out of nowhere to make a name for himself this year is Rinta. He has a fantastic Ken with great mixups, big maximum damage combos, and great reactions. He ended up getting 4th place, which considering the level of competition at Japan Cup 2016 and his lack of tournament experience is absolutely incredible. The year before last it was Pepeday. Last year it was YBK|Dashio. This year it was Rinta.
Below we have featured Rinta’s match against Third Strike legend MOV in Losers Finals. You have to see the match to believe it, but it all came down to Rinta throwing out a low kick as MOV threw a fireball in the last moments of the final round. Whoever landed that hit was the winner, and this time it was Rinta.
GGP|Kazunoko vs TS|Poongko: Cammy Mirror Match Madness
Japan’s GGP|Kazunoko faced off against Korea’s TS|Poongko not once but twice in Top 8, with the last faceoff being in Losers Finals. Both play Cammy, but we’ve rarely seen mirror matches with so much clutch in such a short period of time! Both matches were, for lack of a better word, crazy. TS|Poongko came out on top on both occasions, but it was not easy!
Grand Finals: ZW|GamerBee vs TS|Poongko
It started off in the most unexpected and unpredictable fashion, with both players throwing out Dragon Punches with almost reckless abandon. At the end of the first match, Poongko pulled off one of the great shimmys of all time, baiting out a move from GamerBee in the corner while he dropped back and punished him with his Critical Art. The craziness leveled off a bit as both players set into new rhythms, but Poonkgo went on to win 3-1 and reset the bracket.
The second set settled down into more of a footsies game than crazy, random Dragon Punches and that seemed to work in GamerBee’s favor. GamerBee became much more patient and defensive, trying to frustrate Poongko’s game and exploit any mistakes. GamerBee went up 2-0 and it looked like it would be an easy victory, but Poongko took the 3rd match and it seemed plausible that he could make a comeback once again just as he did once against Kazunoko in Top 8. It was not to be, however, as GamerBee landed the last stomp to win the fourth match and take the overall victory 3-1.
Congratulations to ZW|GamerBee, winner of Japan Cup 2016 and newest qualifying player for Capcom Cup!
ZW|GamerBee from Taiwan is the first non-Japanese player to win a Japanese major event like this in some time, and he deserves the spotlight. This was a very difficult event with incredibly high levels of competition, and he made all the right adjustments to come out on top. Congratulations to GamerBee on a spectacular performance and we look forward to seeing more of his play in these last events of the 2016 season and in Capcom Cup!
Capcom’s Top 5 Moments of Japan Cup 2016
More Japan Cup 2016 Action
If you want to see more great matches from Japan Cup 2016, please visit the Capcom Fighters Youtube channel or go here for the Top 8 Playlist.