Street Fighter League Japan Results And Standings Division S (Day 9)

The penultimate matchday for Street Fighter League Japan was full of excitement as the three teams for the playoffs are almost there. 

• NagoyaNTPOJA vs Good 8 Squad
• DetonatioN FocusMe vs FUKUSHIMA IBUSHIGIN
• Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto vs Shinobism Gaming

Game1: NagoyaNTPOJA (Away) vs Good 8 Squad (Home)

• Tachikawa (Ed) 0 vs YHC-Mochi (Dhalsim) 2
• Mocchi (Akuma) 0 vs Gachikun (Rashid) 2
• Kei.B (Bison) 3 vs Kawano (Akuma) 1
• Mocchi (Akuma) 0 vs YHC-Mochi (Dhalsim) 1

NagoyaNTPOJA were already looking unlikely to make it to the playoffs and their fate was sealed pretty early on as they lost the first game of the day. They went on to lose again with Gachikun's Rashid coming out victorious. With Kawano stepping up to the plate with the hopes of delivering his team a much-needed 40-0, Kei.B showed he had other ideas by defeating the former Evo champion to bring his team level. While YHC-Mochi came to his team's rescue and won them the set, they do find themselves without the cushion of a guaranteed seeded spot in the playoffs as they only made 225 points when they could have had 240. 

Final Scores

NagoyaNTPOJA (20) vs Good 8 Squad (25)

Game 2: DetonatioN FocusMe (Away) vs FUKUSHIMA IBUSHIGIN (Home)

• Itabashi Zangief (Zangief) 0 vs Kakeru (Bison) 2
• Machabo (Akuma) 1 vs CoSa (Ken) 2
• Nauman (Ken) 1 vs Sasamo (Ed) 3

With Good8Squad leaving the door open a bit at the top, IBUSHIGIN went in and took advantage of the slip up to post a very impressive 0-40 to end DetonatioN FocusMe's hopes of a playoff spot. Kakeru who has been going up first for his team in recent matches set the ball rolling with a fine win over Itazan before CoSa followed suit with a win over Machabo who is fresh off a remarkable, but ultimately frustrating weekend where he took 3rd place at the Japan Super Premier. Machabo was supposed to be Fuudo's replacement in the DFM team but could not replicate the form of the former Evo Champion who was instrumental in carrying the team to the playoff spots last season. 

Sasamo also won against Nauman who looked uncomfortable in the anchor spot, to consign DFM to the bottom of the table. 

Final Scores

DetonatioN FocusMe (0) vs FUKUSHIMA IBUSHIGIN (40)

Game 3: Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto (Away) vs Shinobism Gaming (Home)

• Higuchi (Guile) 1 vs Johnny (Marisa) 2
• Fuudo (Ed) 2 vs Momochi (Ed) 0
• Daigo (Akuma) 3 vs Yamaguchi (Ed) 2

Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto and Shinobism Gaming were level on points before the match with both teams in need of a win to leapfrog IBUSHIGIN. As was with the last match, it was a slugfest. With Shinobism as the home team, they decided to send Johnny against Higuchi. This seemed strange at first as Johnny hasn't played many games and has usually lost while Higuchi is one of the hottest players in the country. But, it proved to be a masterstroke as Johnny overcame an inital defeat to pile on the pressure and beat Higuchi. Unfortunately, Shinobism were unable to build on that, losing to Fuudo in the next match with Momochi losing the mirror, and finally, squandering a 0-2 lead withh Yamaguchi who was hoping to defeat Daigo again, but the veteran turned it around to grab a victory for his team. 

This put SSK in second place, a mere 10 points ahead of IBUSHIGIN and sets up an intriguing final day where Saishunkan Sol and Shinobism play DFM and NTP respectively and as both of those teams are already out of the running, one wonders if this will be great for these top teams. Meanwhile, all eyes will be on G8S vs IBUSHIGIN with a huge win for G8S throwing IBUSHIGIN out of the running while a 20-point match will mean Shinobism will need a clean sweep to overtake the team from Fukushima. 

Exciting times ahead as the last match of the regular season begins its countdown in earnest. 

Final Scores

Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto (30) vs Shinobism Gaming (10)