Xiao Hai Wins Combo Breaker & Books His Place at EWC and Capcom Cup 13

Two-time Esports World Cup winner for Street Fighter 6, Xiao Hai, has defied all odds to once again qualify for EWC and Capcom Cup 13 after winning Combo Breaker. 

The veteran of the fighting game scene was the champion of Combo Breaker, which featured the highest turnout of competitors for SF6 outside of Evo with 1,452 entrants, defeating young prodigy, Hinao, to earn his place. 

In a top 8 bracket dominated by Japanese players, Xiao Hai defeated Fuudo, Kobayan, Jr., and Hinao to take first place using his main character, Mai. 

Xiao Hai is Back In EWC Against the Odds

There was some concern that Xiao Hai might struggle to make it back to EWC to defend his title after it emerged that his transfer from KuaiShou Gaming to Team Falcons had cost him his automatic qualification spot. This is because of a rule instituted by the EWC, which stipulates that champions in single-person games must stay with the clubs they represented during their win to take advantage of the automatic qualification spot. 

Therefore, Xiao Hai had to forfeit his automatic ticket and qualify again, which he has done impressively with this win. 

His Combo Breaker triumph also means he has earned his spot at Capcom Cup yet again, making it his third straight qualification for the tournament, which speaks to his consistency. 

Meanwhile, for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, which is the other game Xiao Hai competes in, he has already booked his ticket for EWC 2026 thanks to his Evo Japan win. For Combo Breaker, he only made it as far as the top 16, but that would not matter and this still represents an incredible weekend for him. 

The Rest of the Top 8

Hinao, who took second place has also booked a place at the EWC, marking his first appearance at the event. The young Japanese prodigy who broke into the scene last year after signing on with REJECT and shocking the world with a Capcom Cup premier win at the FightClub Championship VI Chengdu, has been impressive ever since. 

Third and fourth place were taken up by Jr. and Kobayan respectively, which marked the second time in the space of a week that both players made a major top 8 for SF6 after their exploits at DreamHack Atlanta. Fifth to Eighth was populated by Fuudo, Oil King, Micky, and Vxbao who all got some points on the CPT global leaderboard. 

For EWC, the next destination is Evo Las Vegas which takes place in June, and from there 2 more qualifiers will book their place in the tournament. Meanwhile, Blink Respawn will be the next CPT premier and it also takes place in early June giving the players a little over 2 weeks to have some down time before going back out on the hunt for Street Fighter 6’s most prestigious tournament.