Generally speaking, getting top 8 at Evo is kind of a big deal in the realm of fighting games. As a couple of other people already mentioned, it was a janky port of the game, which makes it considerably less impressive. Also, quite a few high level players "boycotted" playing the game that year at Evo, which takes it down a few more notches.
That said, the players that were "boycotting" were kind of little bitches for not just entering and playing it out. I recall they had a little tournament among themselves on the proper version of the game after the official tourney to determine who the "real" Evo winner was, which Phil actually took part in, but he didn't do well.
TBH that whole thing was fucking cringe, and if I was in Phil's position, I probably would have told those faggots to fuck off and have fun with their pretend tournament.