Despite being a relatively nascent addition to the professional sports scene, eSports, otherwise known as electronic sports that see players square off on video games, has been steadily gaining steam over the past number of years. And that comes as no surprise, given the leaps and bounds seen in gaming technology, which has turned a pastime for many while growing up into a legitimately competitive medium with dedicated teams and reverent fans.
Malaysia joins the first ever Commonwealth eSports Championships in history
In fact, the eSports space has grown to such an extent that it has now been supported by the Commonwealth Games by means of the first-ever Commonwealth eSports Championships in history, which was held at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in the city of Birmingham, England. Occupying two days from the itinerary, namely 6th and 7th August 2022, the inaugural Commonwealth eSports Championships ran concurrently but separately from the XXII Commonwealth Games proper.
Huge thank you to our fantastic crews for helping make this such a brilliant Commonwealth Esports Championships! 👏🏼👏🏼@FACEIT @FreyaSpiers @Veracityy_ @British_Esports @ICC_Birmingham #CEC2022 #worldconnected #CommonwealthSport pic.twitter.com/RKxjsVrtED
— Global Esports Federation (@GE_Federation) August 7, 2022
Despite that, the championship saw teams from all number of former and current Commonwealth member nations duking it out on a truly global arena in true Commonwealth fashion all the same, including Malaysia.
And we have plenty to be proud of where our national team is concerned, as not only did they manage to compete at the first ever Commonwealth eSports Championships, they even bagged three gold medals in the process of doing so!
Local players topped the medal charts with 3 golds
According to the Global Esports Federation, our local players managed to bring home the top prize at the DOTA 2 (Women) Grand Finals event, the eFootball open event, as well as the DOTA 2 (Open) Grand Final event.
The eFootball open event was won by Nor Haikal Noh while representing the Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim.
One 🥇 medal… but a HUGE team effort ❤️
Congratulations to our new eFootball Open champions – Malaysia! 🇲🇾@MalaysiaEsports @thecgf @British_Esports @ICC_Birmingham #CEC2022 #worldconnected #CommonwealthSport pic.twitter.com/qDgDVu0m7X
— Global Esports Federation (@GE_Federation) August 6, 2022
Very special moment to have brought home the first ever Commonwealth Esports medal for Scotland 🥈🏴
I fought my hardest against a far more experienced player so I’m proud of my performance.
Sorry I couldn’t win Gold but thank you all for supporting me in doing what I love ❤️ pic.twitter.com/YuYpU9kbT6
— Gary McInnes (@xBigStuff) August 6, 2022
On the other hand, the DOTA 2 (Women) Grand Finals gold was won by our homegrown, all-female DOTA 2 team, Grills Gaming. The competing line-up consisted of Nadrah “Nada” Saufi, Bette “iStarx” Chia, Stephanie “Auroraa” Lim, Tan “Shizuma” Lyn Xhin, and Wong “HG” Wei Sian.
📸 The last final of the day is a wrap! ✅
Here are your Women’s Dota 2 Commonwealth Esports Championships medalists 🥇🥈🥉#CommonwealthSport #worldconnected #CEC2022 pic.twitter.com/Q9lCDrB4Ne
— Global Esports Federation (@GE_Federation) August 6, 2022
The champions are leaving the building! 👋🏼@MalaysiaEsports are the first-ever #CEC2022 DOTA 2 Womens 🥇 medallists!
That’s a wrap for Day 1️⃣…. Let’s do it all again on Sunday 🎉 @thecgf @ICC_Birmingham @British_Esports #worldconnected #CommonwealthSport pic.twitter.com/nqVz4Ik5rL
— Global Esports Federation (@GE_Federation) August 6, 2022
Finally, the last gold medal brought in from the DOTA 2 (Open) Grand Final was cinched by the Malaysian team comprising of team captain William “MangO” Yeoh, Ahmad “Ahyad” Ayhad Husam, Pang “ponyo” Sze Xuan, Denise “Wonder’boy” DanialAbdullah, Chung “Ws`” Wei Shen, and Yong “LOyd” Bing Jie.
📸 The 2022 Commonwealth Esports Championships have FINISHED ✅ with the Dota 2 Open event!
Crazy scenes as Malaysia 🇲🇾 took home 🥇, with England 🏴 in 🥈and India 🇮🇳 in🥉!#CEC2022 #worldconnected #CommonwealthSport pic.twitter.com/6MnP2Cu695
— Global Esports Federation (@GE_Federation) August 7, 2022
This would mean that Malaysia managed to top the medal charts at this year’s inaugural Commonwealth eSports Championships, followed by England, who scored 1 Gold, 3 Silver, and 1 Bronze. The third place occupied by Wales, who scored a single medal for Gold, Silver, and Bronze respectively.
What a fantastic time at #CEC2022, as all the athletes fought to bring glory to their teams and countries. 👏
Here is the overall #esports medal count of all the teams across both days. 🥇🥈🥉
We hope everyone had as much fun as we did. ✨#worldconnected #CommonwealthSport pic.twitter.com/x5BxymDyCt
— Global Esports Federation (@GE_Federation) August 7, 2022
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