13-Year-Old Martinski Defeats PINYA in Tekken Tournament

Filipino 13-year-old Tekken 8 player Martinski defeated Japanese professional player PINYA at the Thaiger Uppercut 2026 tournament held in Thailand. This stage is one of the Tekken World Tour tournaments of the year. Martinski is competing for Team ELITE.

The match was played on the first day of the singles tournament, which started on November 14. The tournament features 187 players, and the field includes some of the game's best-known names. After the first day ended, Martinski confirmed the result in his own post and said he had faced tough matches.

In his post, the player wrote that beating PINYA pleased him. In his match against LMG MoB player Lars, he said he made mistakes and would work on them. He added that he aims to return stronger tomorrow and perform well on the second day.

Martinski had drawn attention before. Veteran professional Kayane praised the young player on X, saying that performing this well at 13 had greatly impressed the new generation, and wrote that he was eagerly waiting to see him conquer the world. The player also competed in the 3v3 event held a day before Thaiger Uppercut. Alongside teammates Magicyan and Blacklight, he finished ninth among 24 teams. The prize pool of the Tekken 8 tournament is under $6,000, and the tournament will end on November 15.