Care Esports AssociationA 92-year-old woman has gone viral in Japan after winning a Tekken 8 tournament held specifically for senior citizens, becoming one of the oldest esports tournament winners ever recorded.
According to Automaton, the event was organized by the Care Esports Association, which runs competitive gaming events aimed at senior citizens. The tournament featured Tekken 8 and brought together competitors ranging from their 70s through to their 90s, complete with brackets and live commentary.
Tournament winner, 92-year-old Hisako Sakai, fought her way to first place using Claudio Serafino, with footage from the event showing her calmly controlling matches as commentators and viewers reacted in disbelief.
92-year-old grandma wins Tekken 8 tournament
As reported by GameSpark, Sakai told viewers ahead of the matches that she was aiming for the trophy and went on to back that up by defeating 95-year-old Sadayuki Kato, who played as Armor King, in the semifinals, before beating Goro Sugiyama in the final, who used Lili.
Both opponents were widely viewed as favorites to win heading into the tournament, so the 92-year-old managed to surprise viewers with her dominant win.
According to Care’s official website, the group uses esports tournaments “as a health-promoting sport that helps older people live bright, healthy, and active lives,” adding that it works “every day with the goal of creating an environment where seniors can easily participate in care esports.”
Similar stories have gone viral outside Japan, with one of the most famous examples being Shirley Curry, who built a huge following playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on YouTube well into her 80s, becoming so iconic that Bethesda later confirmed she would appear as an NPC in The Elder Scrolls VI.
More recently, a US player also went viral after convincing his 69-year-old father to beat Dark Souls as his very first video game, before immediately moving on to Elden Ring.
