AK wins Combo Breaker 2024 crown for first international Tekken title
At A Glance
- Alexandre "AK" Laverez of PlayBook Esports finally overcame the hump and gave the country its first international title in Tekken after ruling the Combo Breaker 2024 with a pulsating 3-2 victory over world champion Arslan "Arslan Ash" Siddique in Illinois in the US on Monday, May 27.
Alexandre “AK” Laverez of PlayBook Esports finally overcame the hump and gave the country its first international title in Tekken after ruling the Combo Breaker 2024 with a pulsating 3-2 victory over world champion Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique in Illinois in the US on Monday, May 27.

With his mastery of signature Shaheen pick in full display, AK overcame great odds and recovered from a 1-2 series deficit in the grand finals to shock Arslan Ash, who played Nina, in the tournament that served as part of the 2024 Tekken World Tour circuit.
With the breakthrough win, AK garnered 540 points to move up to the third spot on the global leaderboard, for a total of 860 points – enough to sit inside the Top 20 players which will get a direct qualification to the World Tour Finals.
Only two players are ahead of AK in the rankings with Japan’s Yuta “Chikurin” Take taking the top spot with 1,135 points and US’ Marquis “Shadow” Jordan with 895 points.
It was a seamless run for AK who swept the first three rounds of the competition before defeating Japanese Daichi “Nobi” Nakayama to earn an outright spot to the upper bracket semifinals.
In the playoffs, he defeated Korean Jeong "Rangchu" Hyeon-ho, 3-1, before outplaying Muhammad “Farzeen” with another 3-1 win to reach the final.
The 23-year-old player is set to bring home around P550,000 for the top prize while also ending a series of heartbreaks in the past that saw him settling for bridesmaid finishes – including one against Arslan Ash who defeated him via a 3-0, 3-1 decision in the 2019 Evolution Championship series in Japan.
Aside from that, AK also finished second in the 2023 IESF World Esports Championships and has a silver medal in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games while playing for the Sibol National team.