The best and brightest in esports in South East Asia gathered at The Top, Komtar in Penang last weekend to battle it out at the finale of ‘The Elite Championship Series 2019 (TECS) – Counter Strike: Go Offensive (CS: GO)’. Working against AOES from Singapore, Beyond Esports from Thailand triumphed at winning two sets in the finale to bring home the trophy prize and RM20,000 cash prize. Malaysia’ FrostFire team managed to make it into the semi-finals, winning RM6,000 cash prize.
In conjunction with the tournament finale, tournament organizer The Pantheon Group, also shared its plans to develop and nurture the esports industry in Malaysia. Franky How, Managing Director of The Pantheon Group said that the group intends to develop the capability of esports athletes and the business in Malaysia to compete at the global level.
“Our plans include organizing and hosting tournament events for all levels of esports athletes — pro players, semi-pro players and amateur players. We are in the midst of expanding our presence in Malaysia. Part of it includes designing and building the appropriate esports arena that aims to provide the best facilities and environment to athletes to learn and train,”
Franky How, Managing Director of Pantheon Group
The Pantheon Group’s first esports center is located at One City in Subang Jaya, Selangor. Sprawling over 10,000 square-meters, it is Malaysia’s first and only NVIDIA certified Platinum GeForce GTX iCafe, and offers individual and team gaming services and facilities like Virtuix Omni, racing simulator, VR and AR. The arena is also equipped with a 123-seater auditorium where gamers and spectators in Malaysia can catch worldwide live-streaming tournaments at 360-degrees.
Kendrick Hung, Founder and Chairman of Phidisk Sdn. Bhd., said that co-organizing TECS with The Pantheon Group was in line with the nation’s initiative to groom new talents to become champions in eSports and to promote Penang Island to the international gamers.
Electronic Sports, or esports, is a worldwide phenomenon of competitive gaming, consisting of its own unique community and culture. Born from electronic video games and after decades of development, the esports industry has matured to a level where it is considered both a sport and a career, much like other professional sports.
TECS 2019 – CS: GO was co-organized by The Pantheon Group and Phidisk. The tournament was made possible thanks to the support by the Penang Youth Development Corporation (PYDC), Penang State Government, Predator, Thermaltake and Zowie. A total of 64 teams from local and international teams participated in the popular multiplayer first-person shooter game during the two-day tournament.
