'I didn't know my path forward': Pro Street Fighter player Ho Kun Xian reveals how his greatest win was also tinged with sorrow

My Gamer Life is an AsiaOne original series where gaming professionals and aspirants in Singapore share the highs, lows, successes, and failures through personal stories on how gaming has defined the course of their lives.

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At the happiest moment of his life, Ho Kun Xian also faced an incredibly heartbreaking event that he still thinks about to this day.

In an interview with AsiaOne for our gaming series My Gamer Life, professional Street Fighter player Kun Xian — better known as Xian — shared how winning a competition caused him grief.

"The moment I won Evo (Evolution Championship Series) in 2013, I was actually disappointed," the 32-year-old shared.

The Evolution Championship Series is one of the highest level of tournaments for fighting games that Kun Xian decided to take part in.

He was an underdog in the tournament due to the 'weaker' character that he played, Gen, but Kun Xian fought against the best players in the world and came out on top.

But with that win a connection was cut — a close friend of his, Lenn, who had been sponsoring his esports journey since 2011, decided to stop there.

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"He told me that I should go and find a real sponsorship — he knew that it would be better for me to find a real company and sponsor since I had already made a name for myself," Kun Xian recalled.

"Even though it was a great win for me, I didn't know my path forward, so I felt a little lost at that time."

A decade down the road, Kun Xian has travelled far to get to where he is today, but he has not forgotten his passion for gaming nor the people who have helped him along the way.

Aside from Lenn, another close friend of his has been essential in his journey - Yung Tek, whom Kun Xian calls "Cameraman".

He said: "Thinking back now about how he has laid a path of so many different backup plans for me, I think he has played a very big role in making me who I am today."

Watch our video for the full interview with Kun Xian.

editor@asiaone.com

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