Phenom and Xiao Hai advance to ELeague Street Fighter V Playoffs

Michael Martin
Zhuojun 'Xiao Hai' Zeng
Zhuojun ‘Xiao Hai’ Zeng (Michael Martin)

ELeague Street Fighter V Playoffs are set with Arman “Phenom” Hanjani and Zhuojun “Xiao Hai” Zeng advancing from Group D.

Group D was full of surprises as Chris Tatarian put on one of his greatest performances in his Street Fighter V career. Tatarian showed incredible poise as he pulled off an unlikely comeback from an 0-2 deficit, defeating Xiao Hai 3-2.

Tatarian then went on to beat France’s Olivier “Luffy” Hay 3-2 before losing to Phenom 3-1 and Du “NuckleDu” Dang 3-1.

Phenom had very little trouble sending Xiao Hai to the losers bracket in a 3-0 victory. The win puts Phenom in the winners bracket in the Playoffs against Ai “Fuudo” Keita, who advanced to the playoffs last week.

Xiao Hai pulled off what might be two of ELeague’s most surprising victories against his demon, NuckleDu. The Capcom Cup 2016 champion has dominated Xiao Hai in recent months, tea bagging him every chance he could get. Xiao Hai responded with a new ferocity and some tea bagging of his own, taking each of their sets 3-1. He also made sure to wish NuckleDu a happy birthday on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/Xiaohai_/status/863218669588848641

Xiao Hai will face Joshua “Wolfkrone” Philpot in the loser’s bracket at ELeague Playoffs.

The full top 8 finals match-ups are as follows:

Winners bracket – Victor “Punk” Woodley vs. Eduardo “PR Balrog” Perez

Phenom vs. Ai “Fuudo” Keita

Losers bracket – Yusuke Momochi vs. Daigo Umehara

Xiao Hai vs. Joshua “Wolfkrone” Philpot

ELeague Playoffs take place Friday, May 26 and will air on TBS. Capcom Pro Tour Premier Event Combo Breaker and international invitational Red Bull Kumite also take place that weekend.

Michael Martin covers SFV and the FGC. Follow him on Twitter @Bizarro_Mike.