Kim had lost her match to a spectacular stroke of luck of her opponent, without having the possibility to even use her deck.
Akio didn't have time to think about that, though. His second match was about to start, and his opponent had shown previously to be if not fearsome, at least competent. He would've been, technically, at an advantage as Koa'ki Meirus had powers to counter specifically LIGHT monsters, and Michelle's deck consisted probably only of those.

Or, they would have, except that he still didn't have Drago. Without that one, his possibilities of winning were drastically cut down. Still, he was there to give the Koa'kis a test run in a serious duel, so he had to at least try his best.

The president had already returned to the announcer's seat, he realized, when her voice chimed in from the amplificator: "The last duel of the first quarter was won by Press Dalton. The semifinals are about to begin. For the first match, I ask Akio Muzuki and Michelle Kine to step inside the arena."

Akio got up silently and made his way to the center of the arena, meeting the look of his opponent.