Malaysian 'Cyber athletes' clinch Silver Medal at Electronic Sports World Cup

Team Kingsurf competes against the rest of the world at the sixth Electronic Sports World Cup in San Jose, USA from 25-27 August 2008

San Jose, USA, 28 August 2008 – The sixth edition of the Electronic Sports World Cup, the most exciting electronic sports competition which gathered 650 video gamers from 40 countries in San Jose Convention Center in California from 25-27 August 2008 came to a close today following an intense three days of competition.

Organised by ESWC Master Licensees Go International Group Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, the Malaysian contingent comprised of a team of six Malaysian youth aged between 18 to 23 years old. "The sportsmanship showed by our Malaysian team was highly commendable. The ESWC offers youth a platform to not only pit their skills in video games, but also to play against the top gamers from around the world. An added incentive was the opportunity to win large amounts of cash rewards which can help them better their game for more global competitions," said Jasmine Low, Managing Director from Go International Group and Team Manager for the Malaysian Contingent in San Jose, USA. In the first worldwide international competition for Warcraft Defense of the Ancients (5v5 DotA), gamers competed for the US$26,000 prize pool for first, second and third placings.Showing no signs of jetlag, Team Malaysia Kingsurf was on a winning streak by winning first place in Group A having beaten teams from Pakistan (S3X), Sweden (SK Gaming), Canada (Nafu), France (Serious Gaming) and United States (EvilGeniuses) on Day 1 of the competition on 25 August 2008. Day 2 followed with Singapore's Team Zenith sweeping wins in Group B from favourites from Romania (TheElderGods), Denmark (MeetYourMakers), United States (Jukes on You) and Brazil (Fearz). Both Singapore's Zenith and Malaysia's Kingsurf secured a place in the Winner's bracket for the finals on Day 3 whilst Denmark's MeetYourMakers met with the United States' Evil Geniuses. Following an hour and a half's play in one of the most popular games in Asia, Team Kingsurf were defeated by Singapore's Zenith and took home the Silver medal.

Team Malaysia Kingsurf from Johor Bahru are Lee Wen Chek a.k.a. "Xiaogui" (age 20), Ng Wei-Poong a.k.a. "Yamateh" (age 18), Lee Vei Siang a.k.a. "PapaXiong" (age 18), Ng Kim Jen a.k.a. Sakura (age 20) and Mar Yung-Chia a.k.a. xaOmA (age 20). Another of Malaysia's players, Tang Chee Keong "Luige" played in the car racing game, Trackmania Nations Forever and secured 25th placing amongst the 30 contenders from around the world. The six gamers created history as the first professional gamers to have the privilege to meet with Prime Minister YAB Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi before departing for San Jose, USA last week.

Hosted by NVIDIA during the NVISION, the ESWC 2008 held for the first time outside of France, provided over 360 computers with games on the main stage broadcasted via the Internet during the entire tournament. Highlights of the three-day event included an appearance by astronaut Buzz Aldrin, keynote speeches by Co-Founder and CEO of NVIDIA, Jen-Hsun Huan and the successful completion of Guinness Book of Records for the largest LAN party in the world!

Olympics of e-sports, Electronic Sports World Cup goes to East Malaysia!

KUALA LUMPUR, Saturday 31 May 2008: Electronic Sports World Cup TM (ESWC), the 'Olympics' of e-sports (video gaming competitions) is having its fourth and fifth qualifier rounds at cyber cafes, Gizmo Gamers in Kuching, Sarawak today and Cyber X in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah tomorrow at the above times and places.

Meanwhile, West Malaysian Counter Strike 1.6 © Valve top gamers prepare for the upcoming Orange Box party on the 5th and 6th June 2008 at Subang Parade Shopping Centre. This will be the first ESWC qualifier for the Counter Strike first-person-shooter (FPS) game.

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Next weekend, on the 7th and 8th June 2008, we invite enthusiasts to watch Selangor's top teams of Defence of the Ancients (DotA) © Blizzard will challenge each other for a spot at the sixth DotA ESWC Qualifier round at cyber café, FTZ Asia.Net Subang. Spectators can expect fantastic performances from renowned teams like AliBaba aka MKVL, TBUN aka w4si, Cybertime aka GOV and many more!

Penang's FTZ will host the next round of ESWC qualifiers on the 14th June, and Melaka on the 21st June followed by the final DotA and Counter Strike qualifiers at 1 Utama Shopping Centre on the 4th July.

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The 64 slots for single player games - Trackmania © Nadeo and 32 slots for Warcraft III TFT will be open for registration on a first-come-first-serve basis on the 5th and 6th July at 1 Utama. Registration costs RM20 per person.

All ESWC qualifiers will culminate in a grand play-off at 1 Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya, from 4th to 6th July in conjunction with the 'Independent Youth Festival 2008' themed 'Celebrating Digital Culture'.

All top gaming teams will gather at 1 Utama for the ESWC National Finals on the 5th and 6th July, where the winning teams of DotA, Trackmania and Warcraft III TFT will move on to the sixth Grand Finals, held in San Jose in California, USA from Aug 25th to 27th and compete amongst the best on this planet for the RM800,000 (US$250,000) prize pool! Winners will receive an all-expenses paid round trip with travel and five-star accommodation. The organisers are still seeking funding to send the winning team of Counter Strike to the USA.

'It's been an interesting couple of weeks as we travel from state to state, watching gamers queue up as early as 8am just to register for a chance to play. It doesn't even seem to be about the prize money or anything else apart from wanting a healthy challenge. I've witnessed the camaraderie amongst team members, their 'secret' code language, their close bond - the game is an excellent communication tool amongst youngsters!', said Jasmine Low, National Director of ESWC 2008 Malaysia.

Team Malaysia will then head to ESWC's Grand Finals to battle for the prestigious title, plus cash prizes. For the first time ever, ESWC will be held outside of France at NVIDIA's NVISION 08 – a three-day adrenaline-pumping visual computing event which includes the 5th annual iGames expo and a Guinness World Record Breaking Attempt for the largest LAN-party. More online: www.eswc.com/malaysia.