From the suburbs of Abu Dhabi to the glitzy lights of Las Vegas, Amjad Al Shalabi’s journey to the top of the esports world has been arduous.
Going by the online moniker AngryBird, Al Shalabi has competed in various Street Fighter tournaments over the years. This month, he finally won big, taking the top prize at the Evolution Championship Series, better known as Evo, the world's top fighting game competition, held in Las Vegas.
Here, he invites The National into his family home in Al Karamah, where he streams his gaming exploits and trains for tournaments. His game room is packed with awards, as well as collectables and memorabilia from different countries. A collection of competition medals hangs behind where he sits.
Long before becoming world champion, Al Shalabi reveals how he first encountered, and then fell in love with, the Street Fighter series. Growing up in Abu Dhabi, he honed his skills carefully and patiently alongside his Algerian friend and sparring partner Adel "Big Bird" Anouche, who won the Red Bull Kumite competition in South Africa last month.
“We used to go to each other’s houses to play games. One day we opened Street Fighter, and I couldn’t do anything,” Al Shalabi says. “During summer vacations, I had three months free so I bought Street Fighter. I started practising without telling Adel, then he came over and I destroyed him in the game.”
Al Shalabi and Anouche's friendship grew through their mutual love of video games. The pair would practice together, and then go home to figure out ways to beat one another. As they improved, the fighting game community grew in Abu Dhabi.
“My journey when I started was a bit tough because families don’t accept their children playing games, they say you have to study.” Al Shalabi says. “I have a degree in business administration and accounting – I was doing both."
Street Fighter is one of the most popular titles in the fighting game genre. Developed by Japanese company Capcom, there have been numerous versions of the game with the latest, Street Fighter 6, released in June.
When Al Shalabi first started playing the game aged 14, competing professionally and becoming a world champion was still a dream.
“I never imagined being at Evo, let alone winning the tournament,” he says. One year after joining the professional Abu Dhabi team Nasr Esports in 2017 he entered Evo for the first time.
Considered to be the world’s toughest and most prestigious prize in fighting game championships, it attracts thousands of competitors every year – with winners reaching the summit of the esports pyramid.
“I got destroyed. Same thing in 2019," he adds. “At my third Evo, which was last year, my heart was broken. I got into the top 16 and was one game away from playing in the arena, and then I lost.”
However, this year, he was determined to avenge last year’s heartbreak.
Al Shalabi entered the tournament as the dark horse; his teammate Anouche was the favourite following his success at Red Bull Kumite.
This year's Street Fighter 6 tournament was the most competitive to date, with more than 7,000 participants vying for the top prize.
“When I qualified for the top six, I was confident that I would win the tournament,” Al Shalabi says. “I was confident that I could adapt to the opponents’ styles and win.”
Al Shalabi faced Saul "MenaRD" Leonardo from the Dominican Republic in the final. After a tough start, Al Shalabi managed to beat his opponent in three of the four adrenalin-fuelled sets.
Overwhelmed with emotion after winning, he hugged his opponent and then turned to the roaring crowd, before kneeling on stage to pray.
However, he did not have time to soak up the moment, leaving Las Vegas shortly after his win for Riyadh, where the Gamers8 tournament was under way. There, he again faced off against the world's best.
“The grand final in Gamers8 was the toughest match I have ever played in," he adds. "I had beaten my opponent at Evo before and even during that tournament I had beat him."
However, he says, their contests proved to be his downfall, having given his opponent enough chances to adapt to his style. "At that point, he knew what I would do," Al Shalabi adds.
He lost in the final to his Japanese opponent Kakeru. Nevertheless, Al Shalabi’s run in both tournaments has already garnered him worldwide adoration.
Al Shalabi says winning Evo and reaching the Gamers8 final is only the start. He's focusing on retaining his title and securing wins at other tournaments, with his eyes already set on ones in Singapore and the Dominican Republic.
“Winning at Evo doesn’t stop where I want to go," he adds. "This is my job now. I will do my best in every event, and if I can, I will go and win.”
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
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Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
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Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
'The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey'
Rating: 3/5
Directors: Ramin Bahrani, Debbie Allen, Hanelle Culpepper, Guillermo Navarro
Writers: Walter Mosley
Stars: Samuel L Jackson, Dominique Fishback, Walton Goggins
