Daigo Umehara
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Daigo Umehara (梅原 大吾), born May 19, 1981, is a renowned Japanese player of arcade fighting games, most notably the Street Fighter series. Among his accomplishments is winning the official 1998 Capcom Street Fighter Alpha 3 global tournament where he defeated the majority of American competitors, including champion Alex Valle. He has also placed high at the annual Evolution fighting games tournament in the United States as well as many of the major tournaments in his native Japan. Because of his success in various games and his uncanny ability to predict and react to opponents, he is commonly referred to within the fighting game community as "The Beast".
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[edit] Japan vs. USA
Daigo Umehara shot to fame in 1998 after winning the official Capcom Street Fighter Alpha 3 national tournament in Japan. As the tournament champion, he then went on to face Alex Valle, the winner of the U.S. national tournament. This final showdown was held in San Francisco on November 8, 1998. The final was played as best out of three games, with each game consisting of up to five rounds. Daigo won the finals 2-1.
He was later seen again in an exhibition "rematch" in Japan. American players fought in four games (Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and Marvel vs. Capcom 2) for the right to battle Japan's best players in those respective games. Daigo only entered the 3rd Strike exhibition, but defeated all of his opponents, ending each round with Ken's fierce Shoryuken.
These events were filmed for a documentary entitled Bang the Machine.
[edit] Evolution 2004
Perhaps Daigo's most famous victory among the current fighting game community is his Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike bracket victory during Evolution 2004, the current international Street Fighter tournament. In the final round of the first match of the losers' finals, his opponent, American player Justin Wong, reduced Daigo's health bar to nearly zero. Wong attempted to win by using his character Chun-Li's Super Art II: Hoyokusen, which would reduce Daigo's health bar even if he blocked the attack - a tactic in fighting games known as "chip damage." Seemingly ready for this tactic, Daigo parried all fifteen hits of Chun Li's super, including an air parry on the last delayed hit, and comboed into his own super move for the win. The large audience that witnessed this live erupted in cheers and shouts.
A video clip of this famous comeback was first released on shoryuken.com (the main tournament organizer for Evolution), but has since spread to many message boards and video clip sites across the Internet.
[edit] Notable recent tournament placings
- Capcom vs. SNK 2
- Super Battle Opera (2003) - 2nd [C-Guile/Chun-Li/Sagat]
- Evolution 2003 - 2nd [C-Guile/Cammy/Sagat]
- Absolution 2004 - 5th [C-Sagat/Ken/Guile]
- Evolution 2006 - 5th [A-Blanka/Vega/Bison]
- Guilty Gear Series (XX, #Reload and Slash)
- Super Battle Opera (2003) - 3rd [Sol] with teammates Arisakashinya [Slayer] and Pachi [Faust]
- Evolution 2003 - 1st [Sol]
- Absolution 2004 - 1st [Sol]
- Evolution 2004 - 1st [Sol]
- Evolution 2006 - 2nd [Sol] with teammates RF [Faust] and Kindevu [Eddie]
- Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
- Evolution 2003 - 2nd [Ken SA3]
- Absolution 2004 - 1st [Ken SA3]
- Evolution 2004 - 2nd [Ken SA3]
- The 2nd a-cho Cup (2004) - 2nd [Ken SA3] with teammates K.O [Yun SA3] and Onanism [Urien SA3]
- Super Battle Opera 3 (2005) - 1st [Ken SA3] with teammate Ohnuki [Chun Li SA2]
- Cooperation Cup 4 (2005) - 1st with teammates Deshi KFG, Hayao, Boss, and Raoh
- Super Street Fighter II Turbo
- Super Battle Opera (2003) - 1st [Ryu] with teammates Kurahashi [Guile] and Yng.Bro.Chun [Chun-Li]
- Evolution 2003 - 1st [Ryu]
- Absolution 2004 - 1st [Ryu, Balrog, O.Sagat, Zangief]
- Evolution 2004 - 1st [Ryu, Balrog, O.Sagat]
- Hyper Street Fighter II
- Evolution 2006 - 5th [ST Ryu]
- Street Fighter Alpha 3
- Absolution 2004 - 3rd [X/A/V-Ryu]
- The 2nd a-cho Cup (2004) - 2nd [V-Ryu] with teammates D44 [V-Akuma] and West Coast Dhalsim [A-Dhalsim]
- Capcom Fighting Jam
- Super Battle Opera 3 (2005) - 2nd [Urien/Guile] with teammate Dan [Ryu/Karin]
