Abu Dhabi resident wins international e-sports tournament Evo 2023

Amjad 'AngryBird' Al-Shalabi won the Street Fighter 6 competition in Las Vegas

Amjad 'AngryBird' Al-Shalabi celebrates with his trophy after winning top prize at Evo 2023. Photo: Evo

Jordanian gamer Amjad "AngryBird" Al-Shalabi has won the top prize in the Street Fighter 6 competition at Evo 2023 in Las Vegas in the US.

Al-Shalabi, who is part of Abu Dhabi team Nasr Esports, reached the final after beating some of the best fighting game competitors in the world.

Using his favourite character Ken, Al-Shalabi faced Saul 'MenaRD' Leonardo from the Dominican Republic in the final. After four gruelling rounds, the Jordanian player won with a score of three sets to one.

Amjad 'AngryBird' Al-Shalabi falls to the ground and prays after winning at Evo 2023. Photo: Evo

The Evolution Championship Series, commonly known as Evo, kicked off its 2023 event in Las Vegas on Friday, with more than 9,000 competitors from across the world. The tournament ran for three days, as gamers were crowned for competing across eight games.

Speaking to The National ahead of the start of the tournament, Al-Shalabi said: “I’m so excited to compete in Evo because it’s the first year of Street Fighter 6 and it’s the most prestigious event of fighting games.”

Street Fighter 6, a fighting game produced by Japanese company Capcom, was released earlier this year. The title made its competitive debut at this year's Evo, making Al-Shalabi its first champion at the event.

After the win, Al-Shalabi took to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to say: "I have been chasing this for so long and it finally happened. Do your best and the result is on Allah."

Al-Shalabi, alongside his Nasr Esports teammate Adel "Big Bird" Anouche, make up the duo known in fighting game circles as "The Birds".

Anouche made his mark on the scene in July when he won the top prize at the Red Bull Kumite competition in South Africa.