EVO 2009 Day 2 – Semifinals Street Fighter IV

(Daigo vs. Ricky Tam)

From the random malfunction of John Choi’s custom fight stick during his semifinal match against Ed Ma, to Daigo’s amazing comeback against Ricky Tam’s Chun Li, day 2 of EVO 2009 had no shortage of amazing moments.

(John Choi apologizes to Ed Ma for controller malfunction – auto DQ for round)

(Ed Ma tries to regain composure after losing first set to Rahsaan Dusuau)

However, one match truly stood out from the rest — Ed Ma vs. Rahsaan Dusuau. The West vs. East Coast rivalry really showed it’s ugly face during this intense match up. Rahsaan had a great mix up game with his Seth in match 1 and had his East Coast supporters loudly cheering him on to what seemed like a sure victory. But in trademarklike fashion, Ed Ma adapted to his style of play and was able to not only defeat him in match 2 but finished it off with a Raging Demon Ultra comeback.

(Ed Ma vs. Rahsaan Dusuau)

The character selection for match 3 seemed like ages. Rahsaan wasn’t sure if he wanted to stick with Seth at this point or switch to another character. After much thought and against theadvice of his East Coast supporters including Justin Wong himself, Rahsaan chose C. Viper. It turned out to be a big mistake as Ed Ma knew this match up all too well, and proceeded to decisively defeat Rahsaan in match 3. After the win, the crowd broke into the largest and loudest uproar of the night, chanting “ED MA ED MA ED MA!”

(Justin Wong relentless with his Rufus)

Day 2 I imagine, is only a small sign of what’s to come in tomorrow’s finals. Final matches are listed below the photo gallery.

Pics from Day 2 of EVO 2009

Day 3 – Finals Matches
Winners Bracket
Justin Wong
Daigo Umehara
Ed Ma
Eduardo Perez

Losers Bracket
Ricky Ortiz
Takashi Hukushi
Sanford Kelly
Shady K

Related posts:

• Living Blogging from EVO 2009 in Las Vegas
• The Best Street Fighter Players Will Battle at EVO 2009
• Justin Wong Narrowly Defeats John Choi at Devastation 2009
• Japan Street Fighter IV Nationals DVD
• Justin Wong Wins SFIV National Tournament and Daigo Wins International Title