Alexandre "AK" Laverez in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games Tekken 7 esports event in San Juan City on December 10, 2019. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/fileMANILA -- The Tekken World Tour 2024 Global Finals is set commence in Tokyo, Japan, playing with the latest iteration of the 3D fighting game, Tekken 8, for the first time.

Pinoy Tekken prodigy Alexandre "AK" Laverez is entering the tournament as one of the top 20 players in the global leaderboard, placing sixth after all of the Tekken World Tour 2024 qualifying tournaments concluded.

It will be his second appearance in the world finals after qualifying in 2022 as the top player in the Philippine leaderboards, where he finished at 13th-16th place.

AK made major strides this year along with the launch of Tekken 8, notably emerging as the champion of Combo Breaker 2024 without dropping a series and defeating reigning Tekken World Tour king, Arslan "Arslan Ash" Siddique, in the grand finals.

Tekken: AK defeats Arslan Ash for Combo Breaker 2024 title

His stellar performance in his first United States tournament win has also earned him a new sponsorship with Ukrainian esports organization, Natus Vincere, where AK described his signing as his "second happiest day."

Tekken: NAVI acquires Pinoy prodigy AK ahead of Esports World Cup

In a feature with theScore Esports, AK revealed that the Combo Breaker win and the NAVI pickup was a lifeline for his career, saying that he would have stopped competing internationally due to high costs if he lost that day.

The Tekken World Tour 2024 Finals starts with the group stage of the Global Leaderboard on December 5, followed by the Regional Leaderboard the next day.

The top two of each bracket in both group stages advance to the top 16 on December 8, while the remaining competitors duke it out with entrants in the Last Chance Qualifier on December 7 where the last two slots for the top sixteen are up for grabs.