Vikram Thiagarajan Wins Pokémon VGC Senior World Championship

Vikram Thiagarajan defeated Peru’s Carlos Verástegui in the final to win the Senior Division at the 2026 Pokémon Video Game Championships (VGC) World Championships in San Francisco, California. Originally from India, Thiagarajan currently resides in the U.K. and represented the country at the 2026 Pokémon World Championships, where he won the championship.

His victory marks a significant result for an Indian-origin player who has drawn attention from India’s competitive Pokémon community.

The deciding match is available on the official Play! Pokémon YouTube channel in a video titled Carlos Verástegui v Vikram Thiagarajan- Pokémon VGC Senior Finals | 2026 Pokémon World Championships.

Play! Pokémon is the official program for competitive Pokémon, organizing play across the Pokémon TCG, Pokémon video games, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE. It allows players to compete against Trainers worldwide, find local Pokémon Leagues, and follow championship events.

San Francisco Event Sets Stage for Pokémon Worlds 2027

The 2026 Pokémon World Championships ran from Aug 28-30, 2026, and featured VGC, Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG), Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE competitions. Japan’s Kazuki Kage won the VGC Junior Division, while Takuma Yamazaki finished first in Masters.

The TCG titles went to Yuta Araki in Junior, Jake Ng in Senior, and Andrew Hedrick in Masters. Hiroki Yamauchi won Pokémon GO, while Zeta Division took the Pokémon UNITE championship.

The San Francisco event concluded with Singapore revealed as the host of the 2027 Pokémon World Championships during the closing ceremony. The announcement came alongside news involving the Pokémon TCG and Pokémon TCG Pocket, giving the competitive circuit its next destination.