| 04 August 2010
How Ryan Hart did not throw his headset, his fight stick, the monitor or random spectator during the ECL Super Street Fighter IV finals amazes me. And the video producer had to have the same feeling. The camera switched to Hart and Starnab about 30 times during the finals (when there was no need to after the third time, even if their breathing pattern changed from "I'm in a tournament match" to "I get steak if I win").
Hart was up 2-0, up a round, and got the first hit on game point against Starnab. It took him 20 more minutes after that moment to win the tournament. The first of three parts is posted above.
How did Hart not go crazy, when he had the biggest advantage around and couldn't finish it out at that moment. He lost four consecutive game points, had to play 18 more rounds. And yet, his expression did not change.
Hart and Starnab had to be encased in an invisible glass box, like those Starcraft pros, right? That's how he held his composure. Or, perhaps he kept playing close to what he did.
| Ryan Hart |
First 7 rounds |
Remainder of match |
| Rounds won |
5/7 |
8/18 |
| First-hit win percentage |
.667 |
.545 |
| First-combo win percentage |
.800 |
.600 |
| EX connection percentage |
.842 |
.417 |
| Comebacks |
1 |
3 |
Almost all of those averages are at or above what I have as the tournament standard. The one difference is the EX connection percentage after his big lead. Those talking heads on sports shows like to talk about players continuing to play the way they do. Hart did that for the most part. The three comebacks helped big time; two of his three comebacks came in Game 2 of the second final, where he was down 1-0.
Stats of both finals matches can be found in the stats section (First finals, Second finals)
