15-year-old Chilean prodigy ‘Blaz’ took second place at Evo France in considered one of his largest victories but, whereas a breakout 16-year-old participant shook up Tekken brackets and completed seventeenth.
Extremely-anticipated combating sport match Evo France occurred in Good from October 10-12, marking the first-ever European department of the Evo model that began in Las Vegas method again in 1996.
Whereas younger gamers have made waves within the combating sport group because the style’s ‘golden age’ within the mid-90s, it’s fairly widespread to see older opponents persevering with to put extremely in main tournaments to today.Article continues after advert
However now greater than ever, teenage gamers are dominating the aggressive combating sport scene, as evidenced by the outcomes from Evo France this previous weekend.
Blaz takes second place at Evo France
The obvious instance of this pattern is Derek Blaz, a 15-year-old Road Fighter professional from Chile who began shaking up the scene upon the discharge of Road Fighter 6 in 2023.Article continues after advert
He’s gained various on-line tournaments within the official Capcom Professional Tour and has additionally secured a number of Prime 8 placements at majors like Blink Respawn, Combo Breaker, and Final Combating Enviornment.Article continues after advert
Much more spectacular are his two second-place finishes at two of the largest Road Fighter tournaments on the planet; the 2025 Esports World Cup and Capcom Cup 11.
He continued his reign of terror at Evo France, the place he put up a tricky struggle from the decrease bracket in opposition to Korean professional Leshar in Grand Finals. Having made second place in three of the world’s largest combating sport tournaments at simply 15 years outdated, Blaz is a rising star on nearly everybody’s radar.Article continues after advert
16-year-old Tekken participant beats seasoned professionals
He wasn’t the one teen shaking issues up at Evo France, both; a 16-year-old Tekken participant named Neia went viral that weekend for making it to the Prime 24, the place she notably defeated professional gamers Hakim ‘Skywalker’ Touré and Jonathan ‘Tibetano’ Medina.Article continues after advert
Not a lot was identified about Neia earlier than her jaw-dropping efficiency at Evo France. Now, she’s solidified her place within the aggressive scene and made her mark on the map as a breakout expertise, incomes reward from the French group for her abilities.Article continues after advert
Holy shit that is insaneNeia, 16 years outdated. Second ever main. Absolute Tekken prodigy, beats each Skywalker and TibetanoShe’s mainly Tekken’s Endingwalker wow. Cheering for her to succeed in prime 8!!!! https://t.co/JDFBWA4K0g— Damascus EVO FRANCE!!! (@zDamascus) October 11, 2025
These two gamers made waves at Evo France, however much more teenagers are making waves in combating sport esports; 17-year-old Hong Kong-based participant Micky made it to the Prime 8 at Evo Las Vegas earlier this yr, whereas Chilean Road Fighter participant ‘Craime’ shocked viewers after securing fourth place in Blink Respawn 2024 at simply 13 years outdated.
Plainly youthful gamers are beginning to steal the highlight inside the combating sport group. The older technology is now passing the torch to those rising stars, and solely time will inform how nice they are going to change into as they proceed to hone their abilities. Article continues after advert
This isn’t the one massive information from Evo France this weekend, both, because the occasion broke information to change into the biggest combating sport match within the historical past of the European Union with a whopping 93 international locations represented by taking part entrants.Article continues after advert
