WEC 2023: Nearly sweeping Tekken 7 tourney, AK nabs silver after finals defeat VS Atif Butt

Alexandre "AK" Laverez settled for a silver medal in Tekken 7 during the IESF World Esports Championship (WEC) 2023 at Iasi, Romania on Saturday, September 2.

In his second WEC trip since 2018, Laverez absorbed a 5-2 defeat in the hands of gold medalist Atif "Atif Butt" Ijaz of Pakistan in their grand finals showdown.

It was a better showing for AK this WEC 2023, as he reached the quarterfinals of the same competition five years ago.

Previously, the 22-year-old Filipino Fighting Games player finished tied for 13th-16th place in the Tekken World Tour (TWT) Finals in Amsterdam.

The reigning TWT champion and 2022 WEC winner dominated Laverez's Shaheen and Paul with his Akuma in the first three matches to establish a huge 3-0 lead.

In an all-Akuma faceoff in Match 4, the Playbook Esports standout finally made his breakthrough to beat the FATE eSports star, 3-1.

Ijaz regained his form in Match 5, closing it with a d/f+1 mid punch to put himself at championship point, but Laverez got one back in their next clash, thanks to a clutch Raging Demon Rage Art.

The Pakistani prevented a Filipino resurgence in the seventh match to take the throne and the 10,000-dollar top prize.

AK, meanwhile, will bring home 6,000 dollars.

The Filipino esports professional topped Group C of the Tekken 7 tournament with a perfect 5-0 win-loss record.

Getting a bye from Round 1 of the playoffs, Laverez faced Venezuela's Fuko in the second round, and the former blanked the latter, 2-0.

In Round 3, AK survived a defiant Whale of Denmark, 2-1, to qualify for the quarterfinals, where he decimated Greece's Nivek, 2-0.

On his way to the finals, AK relegated South Korea's Meo-IL in the battle for third with a dominant 3-0 victory.

Meo-IL of Kwangdong Freecs ranked fourth after losing to eventual bronze winner Sergie Mazter from Peru in the third-place match, 3-0.