Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin "ET" Chia-hung (林家弘) claimed the championship title in The King of Fighters (KOF) XV and finished runner-up in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves — both fighting games — at this year's Evolution Championship Series (EVO) in Las Vegas yesterday.
Lin, who placed second in the KOF XV tournament at last year's EVO, outdid his previous performance this year and also secured a spot in the Fatal Fury division of this year's SNK World Championship (SWC), the third season of SNK's official global tournament circuit.
Photo from the EVO Facebook
The SWC, which previously featured only KOF XV, has since expanded to include other titles such as Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves and Samurai Shodown.
With one championship and one runner-up finish, Lin said EVO 2025 marked a high point in his fighting game career, particularly because of his progress in Fatal Fury.
"Although it's a bit of a shame to fall just short of the title, I'm happy to see my improvement and to earn a ticket to the SNK World Championship," Lin said. "I'll keep working hard in the next tournament, and I'm grateful to everyone who has supported me."
Now 42, Lin also won back-to-back KOF XV titles at EVO Japan in May.
In the Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves bracket in Las Vegas, which used a double-elimination format, Lin reached the winners' final, but lost 0-3 to Japan's Goichi "GO1" Kishida, the reigning Esports World Cup champion.
He then rallied through the losers' bracket, defeating GO1 3-1 in the first grand final set.
However, after a reset, Lin narrowly lost the second set 2-3, finishing second overall.
Shortly afterward, Lin returned to compete in KOF XV.
Despite an earlier loss in the winners' semi-finals, he fought his way back through the losers' bracket, beating Mexico's Layec 3-0 in the first grand final set and 3-1 in the reset to capture the title.
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