While there are talks from the Olympics committee to bring esports into a bigger stage, there is however a similar body that is empowering esports on the international level. The International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has been conducting the IeSF World Championships for the past eight years and continuing to do so this year.
Three games will have representatives from Malaysia competing at the upcoming World Championship, to be held in Busan, South Korea on November 9-12. These players went through the national qualifiers organised by e-Sukan Malaysia (eSM).
The national qualifiers took place at Digital Fortress E-Sports Arena and Orange Esports Stadium from August 26-27. The winners not only walk home with cash money, but also sponsorship by AMD and Omen ByHP for flight tickets and accommodation to Busan.
For Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), the team of Fire Dragoon Esports won the national qualifiers. Formed early this year, the new epsorts organisation has found great talent in various games, and their CS:GO team has shined throughout the qualifiers.
Fire Dragoon Esports are:
1) Taschvind ‘Taz’ Sielan Jayasielan
2) Ahmad Khalish ‘d4v41’ Rusyaidee Bin Nordin
3) Muhammad Ridzuan ‘3nable’ Hazi Bin Hasnul Hazi
4) Muhammad ‘Click-’ Idzni Bin Rosdi
5) Lee ‘y00ngHwe1’ Yoong Hwei
For League Of Legends, Team Rough Life has prevailed and will be the Malaysian team to compete at Busan.
Team Rough Life are:
1) Khoo ‘RL Albin’ El Bin
2) Loo ‘RL Lavender’ Kah Yew
3) Yap ‘chuer bae’ Li Aw
4) Liew ‘RL KURURU’ Khai Chun
5) Hong ‘RL ShiroNeko’ Kar Yi
6) Louis ‘RL Imanotgod’ Wong
Lastly, Tekken 7 sees the upcoming young star Muhammad Zarif ‘HXI | ZABA’ Aiman bin Aris being the sole representative. First seen in the Janda Cup Tekken 7 tournament, he has since been signed by team Infinite Carnage and has been a regular in the local competitive Tekken scene. This is his first big break, prevailing against the lineup from Team Flash Vision to win a spot to Busan.
The IeSF World Championships will see 47 nations compete in various games. Prize pool for CS:GO and League Of Legends 20 million Korean Won (roughly RM75,000+) and Tekken 7 up to 4 million Korean Won (roughly RM15,000+).
(pictures by JomGaming, courtesy of eSM)