eGamers out to put up strong show at Asian Games

Malaysian hopefuls: Muhamad Khairul Abdul Aziz (top) and Mohamad NorHaikal Mohamad Noh

PETALING JAYA: Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) gamer Mohamad NorHaikal Mohamad Noh is still on cloud nine over the inclusion of eSports in the Asian Games.

The announced in April that eSports will be a demonstration sport at the Indonesia Games from Aug 18-Sept 2, and that it will become an official medal sport at the Games in China in 2022.

NorHaikal, who will represent Malaysia with Muhamad Khairul Abdul Aziz said they would take the opportunity to put up a strong show at the Games.

“We couldn’t believe it when eSports was first considered for the Asian Games,” said NorHaikal.

“And now that we have the chance, we’ll do all that we can to ensure that we do well for the country.”

PES is a football video game where a player controls a team of 11 players and tries to score goals more than the opposing player.

Of the six games competed at the Asiad, PES is the only eSport Malaysia will be competing in.

This is because only NorHaikal and Khairul have made it past the Southeast Asia qualifiers in June.

The duo finished runners-up in the qualifiers behind Vietnam but ahead of Thailand and Singapore. Only the top two go through to compete at the Asiad, while hosts Indonesia are automatic qualifiers.

The other participating teams are Japan, Hong Kong, Iran, Kazakhstan and India.

During a match between two teams, the winner is determined by playing best-of-three games.

The first game is played one-on-one while the second is played as a co-op where both players of both teams play each other at the same time. If it is a tie after the first two games, the deciding game is another one-on-one battle.

“Japan will be the toughest because they are the ones who created PES and they have one of the best players in the world, nicknamed Sofia,” he said.

“But Indonesia and Vietnam will also be quite tough competitors at the Games.

“This is our first time, so hopefully we can bring something back for Malaysia.”

eSports Malaysia secretary general Rinie Ramli said the National Sports Institute (NSI) and the Youth and Sports Ministry were working together to form a national eSports team following the inclusion of the sport in the Asiad programme.

“We are currently working with them to develop the team in preparation for other international tournaments as well,” said Rinie.