Malaysia's Yap Kien Khun aka Ranger playing Starcraft at the 30th SEA Games eSports event in Manila, Philippines back in December 6, 2019. For the upcoming SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, Malaysia is targeting to win four medals. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysia Electronic Sports Federation (MESF) will hold a national eSports selection starting from Feb 18 for representatives to the SEA Games 2021 in Hanoi, Vietnam, with the results to be announced on March 7.
Chosen athletes will undergo a two-month bootcamp beginning March 14 at Casa Bukit Jalil and the EBN Esports Arena at Quill City Mall in Kuala Lumpur.
“The participation of eSports at the SEA Games for the second consecutive year demonstrates that the sport is taken seriously throughout the globe. MESF will continue to grow the country's eSports ecosystem,” MESF president Datuk Ananth S. Nathan said in a statement.
Though the SEA Games Hanoi 2021 will feature ten eSports medal events, MESF stated that it will compete in nine events namely Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, both solo and squad categories for PUBG Mobile, both women’s and men’s events for League Of Legends: Wild Rift, Garena Free Fire, FIFA Online 4, League Of Legends and Arena Of Valor. It will not be sending any representatives for CrossFire, a first-person shooter game.
MESF will hold open qualifiers for all events except for PUBG Mobile (squad and solo), Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Garena Free Fire where it is only for invited teams such as recent participants in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional Malaysia Season 9 and PUBG Mobile Pro League MYSGPH Season 5.
Team Malaysia is targeted to win four medals with MESF naming Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, PUBG Mobile (squad), FIFA Online 4 and Arena Of Valor as potential medal-winning games.
At the SEA Games in Manila, Philippines in 2019, Malaysia took home a gold medal in Hearthstone and bronze in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. SEA Games 2021 will take place from May 12 to 23, 2022.
