Tougeki 2007 HSF Qualifier News (plus Tamashima & ShikiGuile Interview)

Super Battle Opera 07 is a big, multi-game tournament that will take place this summer. A Hyper Street Fighter II (aka Street Fighter 2 Anniversary Edition) 2-on-2 tourney is one of the events this year. Listed below are the teams that have qualified so far. Your humble blog editor is rooting for Otochun and Komoda! (pic, lifted from the GMC blog, at right)

4/8 Nagase UFO (Kansai)
ABC (CE Ryu) & Six (CE Dictator)

4/14 Sugamo Carrot (Kanto)
Tamashima (ST Boxer) & ShikiGuile (CE Guile)

4/21 Plabo Ageo (Kanto)
Kurahashi (CE Guile) & Nuki (ST Chun-Li)

4/22 GAME'S DRAGON (Kansai)
Kusumondo (ST E.Honda) & DanjiriDhalsim (ST Dhalsim)

4/28 Tsurumaki (Kanto)
DoM (ST Dictator?) & DoS (ST DeeJay?)

4/29 Kasugai 50 (Chubu)
Otochun (ST Chun-Li) & KomodaBlanka (ST Blanka)

4/30 GAME41 (Hokkaido)
ARG (ST Claw) & The SuperStar (ST Boxer)

Just for fun, I translated an interview with Tamashima and ShikiGuile from April 14th. source

INH Sakamoto: Congratulations on making it through the qualifiers!

Tamashima & ShikiGuile: Thank you very much.

What was the key to your victory?

Shiki: (tapping his teammate's shoulder) Well, that would be this guy's Boxer you know. (laughs)

That was a stellar performance.

Tama: (blushing) Anyway, since this was the first qualifier for Kanto, I figured I'd be able to take a look at what the other teams are up to.

A wait-and-see approach.

Tama: Yeah. It felt like wait-and-see, while looking for opportunities. Plus I wanted to test how well my main character, ST Boxer, could fight against strong characters like the CE cast and how strong I am in general lately. I guess it's good that I was able to play while keeping my cool.

Shiki: For me, ST Boxer is a really tough fight so I wanted to see if I could counter with CE Guile. My main since the beginning has been Guile, but ST Boxer is pretty much guaranteed trouble. CE Guile seems very solid against him. We were both confident, and I think that combining our strength was the key to winning.

I see. I hope that you'll keep up this level of enthusiasm while heading for the main event.

Tama: There's still a lot of time before the main event, and I'd like to take a good look at the teams that qualify. Then we'll be able to work on countering those teams.

That's the advantage that comes with having this under your belt, right?

Tama: That's what makes winning today's qualifier so lucky... Actually, as expected some powerhouse teams have stepped up, so I'm feeling the tension of a tournament for the first time in a while.

Really? (laughs)

Tama: (laughs) I'm having fun, but part of it is stressful.

Shiki: It was my first tournament in a long time, too, so I was really tense. In the main event I hope that I can play while being all worked up. From here I want to work more and more on CE Guile, and try hard not to drag Tama down.

I understand. (laughs) Good luck at the finals! Thank you very much!