SEA Games: Malaysia’s Wild Rift and Free Fire esports teams depart for Hanoi

SEA Games Hanoi 2021 esports athletes are excited to represent Malaysia in the prestigious tournament. — SAMUEL ONG/The Star

SEPANG: The first batch of esports athletes representing Malaysia in SEA Games 2021 departed for Hanoi, Vietnam today (May 10).

Poon Kok Sing, the captain of team SEM9 who will be competing in the League of Legends: Wild Rift medal event, said he is grateful for the support shown by the government towards esports.

“I felt this is the first time seeing such major support coming from the government side. This is why we hope to bring a gold medal for Malaysia,” 25-year-old Poon said when met at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2.

The Wild Rift and Free Fire competition at the SEA Games will kick off on May 13. Teammate Liew Kuan Chuen, 22, said the team will be heading to the venue earlier to check out their equipment and familiarise themselves with the environment.

“We’ve been practicing with our own devices and when we get there, the organisers will provide us with different smartphones to compete on so we need time to get used to it,” Liew shared.

Wan Muhammad Hakimi Wan Airol, 18, who will be competing in the Free Fire event, said he is excited to represent Malaysia.

“Most of my teammates are also competing at such a prestigious level for the first time. We have been training hard and can’t wait to showcase our talent,” Wan Muhammad Hakimi said.

Malaysia Electronic Sports Federation president Datuk Ananth S. Nathan said the athletes have shown discipline and passion throughout their training period which began in March.

“Bringing all the athletes together has involved a lot of hard work and they have been performing up to our expectations. We hope they will use this opportunity to show Malaysia how dynamic the esports team is,” he said.

The National eSports team manager Kelvin Pang is hoping for the first batch to produce a good start for the Malaysian esports contingent.