Gamers set to battle at Waterfront
Red Bull Hit The Streets 2019 winner Jabhi “JabhiM” Mabuza became the first gamer to lift the trophy in front of a huge crowd gathering on Bree Street in the CBD. Due to the lockdown, the 2020 event took place online and again saw JabhiM take home the win and he hopes to defend his title at this weekend’s finals at the Waterfront. Picture: Mpumelelo Macu /Red Bull Content Pool
The time to crown the kings of Street Fighter V and Tekken 7 has arrived, with Red Bull Hit The Streets in partnership with AOC, Skullcandy and PS5 returning to Mzansi for the fourth consecutive year.
Gamers from around the country will go toe-to-toe for a chance to represent the country at one of the most prestigious FGC (Fighting Game Community) competitions, Red Bull Kumite.
This year’s qualifiers will take place over three weekends. The online qualifiers kicked things off on December 3, followed by the rAge Drive Qualifier, which took place this past weekend at the rAge Expo.
The last qualifier will take place at the Homecoming Centre on Friday December 16. The winning teams will then take each other on at the national finals happening on Saturday December 17 at the V&A Amphitheatre.
Red Bull Hit The Streets first took place in South Africa back in 2019, with a huge crowd gathering on Bree Street to witness Jabhi “JabhiM” Mabuza become the first gamer to lift the trophy and represent SA at Kumite.
Due to the lockdown, the 2020 event took place online and again saw JabhiM take home the win. It was in the same year that the competition added Tekken 7 to the mix with Ighsaan “Iggy” Latief winning the inaugural title.
Last year saw gamers gather once more for the national finals, this time at Bravado HQ in Johannesburg. After some intense battles, JabhiM made it three in a row when he beat Billy D in the finals.
He will return this year to defend his title as he aims to be the only gamer to win Red Bull Hit The Streets since 2019.
“It's very exciting to participate in an event that just keeps on growing, every time the event ends, we end up feeling like athletes. I'm always excited to see what Red Bull has in store for us. At this point I feel like Red Bull Hit The Streets is home for me, I can lose every other tournament but not this one. I will always play at 120 percent,” said JabhiM.
Farouk “DaXpt” Suleman claimed the Tekken 7 title after a grand finale against the 2020 champion Iggy.
DaXpt went on to represent South Africa at Kumite and came in ninth position after knocking out some of the top international players including Fear of Silence and S.A.M. “I am really excited to be back to defend my title and want to make it two in a row. I know it will be challenging, but I am ready for anything the other gamers bring,” said DaXpt.
This year's national finals will be available for gamers around the world to watch live on Red Bull’s Twitch page hosted by Sam Wright with Sandile Ntshingila. Commentary will be led by Sean Rihlamvu with Logan Sama for Street Fighter V and Ighsaan Latief with a special guest, for Tekken 7.
