A roster of nominees to represent Singapore in eSports at the upcoming SEA Games in Manila (from 30 November to 11 December) has been named. The players and teams will still need to be confirmed by the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) before they are official representatives of the republic. Here are some of the players and teams who will be practising their skills in an upcoming boot camp session just for the upcoming November event:
BY GAME
Tekken 7:
Tan “Joystick” Boon Kai and Ruslan “Lan94” Bin Abd Rahman
Starcraft 2:
Thomas “Blysk” Kopankiewicz and Toh Wei “Lobo” Liang Alvin
DOTA 2:
Team X – Wong “Nutz” Jeng Yih and teammates
Arena of Valour:
Team Resurgence – Dabbie “813” Lim and teammates
Mobile Legends:
Team Evos SG – Robert “OhDeerBambi” Boon and teammates
Accredited by the Asian Electronic Sports Federation, six medals will be contested during the Southeast Asian Games 2019, while a single demonstration event will also be held. There will be 3 categories (PC, Console, and Mobile) with two titles each. So far, only five of the titles are confirmed, with the sixth to be announced at a later date:
PC: Dota 2 and Starcraft 2
Console: Tekken
Mobile: Arena of Valour and Mobile Legends
This is the first time eSports will be included in the SEA Games as a medal event – and as a multi-sport event of this caliber, it’s a giant step forward towards legitimising esports as world-class sporting event. Even Singapore has recognised the draw of eSports – Singapore Sports Hub now has a dedicated eSports training facility, and it’s not the only one.
So far, according to these nominees, top contenders from the region include Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand.
