Ricky Ortiz Wins Street Fighter IV at NorCal Regionals 2009

Ricky Ortiz may have lost to Alex Valle during the 5-on-5 team battle between Northern and Southern California, but he won when it counted most — during the Street Fighter IV Singles Grand Finals. Chants of “NorCal” and “Ricky” filled the room as Ricky’s Rufus simply tore apart Alex’s Ryu. As anyone in the Street Fighter scene knows, this is no easy task, but Ricky’s regular sessions against John Choi’s Ryu definitely proved it’s worth during this intense battle. Sorry SoCal, maybe next time!

For those wondering who the lone guy rooting for Hsien Chang from Austin, Texas the whole time against Combofiend, Dagger G and LPN, it was me. I watched Hsien’s Akuma take out top tier players throughout the tournament with simple ease, and I guarantee this won’t be the last you hear of him.

Congrats to all who placed in the Top 8 and to the SoCal team for taking home the team title (I’m sure you guys loved making NorCal Team Captain Choi wear that FREE shirt). Over 230 people entered NorCal Regionals Street Fighter IV tournament, and over 10,000 watched the live stream and interviews provided by iPlaywinner and Get Your Tournament. I hope everyone enjoyed NorCal Regionals 2009, and I’ll see you again next year!

Shout outs to the KS2 Productions, John Choi, the SRK Crew, Namco and Madcatz for making this such a great event!

NorCal Regionals 2009 Street Fighter IV Final Results
1. Ricky Ortiz (Rufus)
2. Alex Valle (Ryu)
3. Peter “Combofiend” Rosas (Abel)
4. Hsien Chang (Akuma)
5. Dagger G (Guile)
5. Leviathan (Akuma)
7. LPN (Akuma, M. Bison)
7. Anthony “Crackfiend” Nguyen (Balrog)

Northern California Team
Filipino Champ (Dhalsim), Lamerboi (Guile) LPN (Akuma) Ramin (Abel), Ricky Ortiz (Rufus).

Southern California Team
Alex Valle (Ryu), Peter “Combofiend” Rosas (Abel), Nemonic (Sagat), Long “Shady K” Tran (Akuma), Joe Dubbs (Zangief).

Other Official NCR Coverage
Kara Leung (photo gallery)

NorCal Regionals 2009 Pics and Photo Gallery