After Street Fighter 6 Revoked His Ticket, the Kid Fought His Way Back

Street Fighter 6 player Zeng Zhuojun, better known as Xiaohai, said on stream that he was only informed in early March 2026 that his direct invite to the EWC Saudi Esports World Cup had been revoked. Under a new rule published by EWC in February 2026, a defending champion’s automatic qualification in Street Fighter 6 is tied to the team they originally won with. Because Zeng had transferred from KSG to Falcons in October 2025, he lost the slot, then earned his way back by winning Combo Breaker 2026 from the losers bracket in May 2026 to re-qualify for the July 2026 main event.

For Zeng, the problem was never the rule itself. It was when he was told. He said he was “very upset” when the final decision only arrived in early March, leaving just four months to prepare for the July 2026 event. As a two-time EWC Street Fighter 6 champion, he had been in line to go straight into the main event as defending champion. Instead, the invite stayed with the team, and once he had already moved to Falcons, the qualification went with the old team.

That said, the competitive logic behind the rule is straightforward. If a defending champion’s berth stayed entirely with the player, top organizations could simply spend big to sign that player and gain an EWC main-event spot with minimal effort. Zeng now says he “fully agrees with this rule,” especially given that he was the player affected by it. His view now is that the rule makes sense, even if the rollout did not.

He also made clear that the late notice was what hurt most. Had he known about the rule change earlier, during the late-2025 transfer window, he could have adjusted his preparation plans much sooner. Instead, the late notice threw off the preparation he had already mapped out.

How he got back in matters too. He did not reclaim the spot through an appeal. He won Combo Breaker 2026 from the losers bracket and earned the ticket again on results. He did not get back in through an exception or an appeal; he qualified again by winning on stage.

The official communication could clearly have come earlier, and the whole situation would have landed much better if it had. But the outcome is hard to argue with. Zeng lost the berth because of a rule introduced in February 2026, after transferring from KSG to Falcons in October 2025. He was informed in early March 2026, disliked how late that decision came, then qualified back into the July 2026 EWC through Combo Breaker 2026 in May 2026. For Zeng, the issue now is settled: he lost the direct invite, accepted the rule, and played his way back in anyway.