India has a big pool of talented fighting-game players, but they lack discipline, focus, and constant training: Indian Tekken pro Abhinav Tejan opens up about nation’s FGC scene

Q4. As a professional Tekken player, how has your journey been so far? Can you shed some light on some of the hurdles you faced along the way before being hailed as one of the best Tekken players in India?

Abhinav: Around 2010-2011, I won most tournaments because most players participating were just casual players.

But after 2011, word started spreading out about the events and me. After that, better players from other cities like Chandigarh and Meerut began to join tournaments and halted my winning streak.

The BYOC 2011 (Image via Abhinav Tejan)

I found a community for Tekken players in Delhi as well, and we started training together. It took me a while to reach the level of top players, and I started winning tournaments again in 2013.

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Q5. With fighting games like Street Fighter, Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Mortal Kombat, and Guilty Gear already having thriving esports scenes and communities, why is Tekken the title you specifically focus on?

Abhinav: The reason I focus on this game is that around 2012, Tekken was the biggest fighting game in India. The community for the game was huge compared to other games at that time, and it is still the case in India today.

Unlike Tekken, other fighting games like Street Fighter, Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Mortal Kombat, and Guilty Gear are all 2D games not in terms of graphics but mechanics.

In 2D games, you can move your characters to only four directions: up, down, left, right, but in Tekken, a 3D fighting game, you can move inward and outward as well, making the game hard compared to others. This makes it appealing to me.

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Q6. What’s the atmosphere like back at home? How supportive are your parents with your career choice?

Abhinav: Every parent wants the best for their child. My parents are the same, they may not be supporting me vocally, but they do support me a lot in other aspects. When I needed money to travel to international tournaments back in 2017 and 2018, they helped me and never stopped me from gaming. They are quite chill about my career choice for now.

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Q7. Tell us about some of your achievements as a professional Tekken player. What were some of your career highs?

Abhinav: If we talk about my achievements in India, I have made it to every single grand finals of a tournament since 2014 and won most of them. I also have won every single qualifier of IESF and represented India five times internationally.

2018 was my best gaming year because I won Dreamhack Mumbai, which had a massive prize pool of 5.5 lakh rupees. Right after that, I placed third in an open Tekken World Tour event in Singapore called SEA Major 2018. The same year, I placed fourth at the IESF 2018 Taiwan.