Street Fighter League Japan Day 11

The penultimate matchday came upon us for Street Fighter League Japan. With only one matchday left, today was the day for some teams to either fall away, or live to fight another day. Two of those teams were DetonatioN FocusMe and Hiroshima Team iXA. The two are pretty low on the table and both need 40-point wins to even have a chance to make it to day 12. 

The matches set up for today were as follows:

• Hiroshima Team iXA vs. DetonatioN FocusMe
• Nagoya Oja Body Star Gaming vs. Shinobism
• Gyogun vs. Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto

Hiroshima Team iXA vs. DetonatioN FocusMe

VS

DetonatioN FocusMe came into this match needing to win 40 points for them to even have a prayer of making it to the 2nd stage and that is exactly what they did. This was a perfect opportunity to do so against a Hiroshima Team iXA who are great, but haven't always had the results. DetonatioN FocusMe did really well with John Takeuchi, Nauman, and Fuudo all getting the wins. Fuudo's win was especially nice considering how hard it has been for him to get into the competitive swing of things. 

Team iXA on the other hand, sent out Kichipa with Lily again, but he lost out. 

With 40 points DetonatioN FocusMe are now on 110 points with Team iXA consigned to being shown the door from the league this year. DetonatioN aren't safe yet and will need to also win their next game heavily to make it into the 2nd half.

Nagoya Oja Body Star Gaming vs. Shinobism

VS

The second match of the day also featured a desperate team in Nagoya Oja Body Star who sat in 8th on the table with 90 points playing their final game. Their path to making it is even more difficult as they needed a 40-point win and for Good 8 Squad to lose for them to make it out. 

They certainly did their part as they defeated Shinobism, who are in 5th place, 40-0 to keep their very slim hopes alive. Again, it came down to players who have been having a difficult time finding the mental fortitude to win. Kei.B (BNBBN) and Torimeshi had taken down Johnny and Momochi. With Fujimura sat on the sidelines, it was down to Yamaguchi to spoil the party. 

However, Akira, who until now has been finding it extremely tough to win his sets, was really up to it. Akira was able to win against Yamaguchi's Dee Jay and give his team an incredible and very much-needed 40 points. 

This puts Nagoya Oja on 130 points, five points above Good 8 Squad, and above Hiroshima Team iXA. However, now they need to hope that DetonatioN FocusMe and Good 8 Squad do not get any points on Day 12. If this highly unlikely event can happen, they will be in the 2nd stage. 

Gyogun vs. Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto

VS

The third match was between surprise table toppers, Gyogun and Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto who sit in second place. This was an important match as it's Gyogun's last while Saishunkan will play on Day 12. 

Gyogun are in incredible form with Moke and Mago really find some rhythm in recent times, and it was these two that really pressed the advantage with some important wins. For Mago, he was able to use his Cammy to defeat Higuchi who had so far been unbeaten. Mago lost with Juri initially and then he was able to take it and give his team 10 points. 

The second set was between the in-form Moke against JP connoisseur, Nemo. Moke has cemented himself as possible the best Chun li in Japan especially after taking down Sako. Moke was again in tip top shape to defeat Nemo who wasn't able to use JP to his advantage. 

This left Machabo as the anchor to possibly get a 40 pointer for his team and potentially cement them in top spot. But Sasamo was there to ruin the party using his Dee Jay to great effect to get the win over Machabo.

This was great for Sasamo who has repaid the faith that Saishunkan Sol have had in him with a win. Not only did he level the match, he went up against Machabo again in the tiebreaker and pulled off another win to win the match for Saishunkan Sol 25-20. 

Gyogun remain at the top of the table, but Saisunkan Sol is only 5 points behind and can take the top spot if they win on Matchday 12. 

Things are finely poised for the final day of Stage one and there is still some drama to come on day 12 as DetonatioN FocusMe will need to pull off another 40-0, but against Cyclops who are a very strong team. meanwhile, Saishunkan Sol can take first place, but will need to battle early favorites, FAV Gaming for it. And finally, Shinobism have a chance to consign Good 8 Squad to a very forgettable league campaign. 

All this to come on the next matchday, we cannot wait to see how things progress.