All eyes on gold as Malaysian e-sports athletes head to bootcamp

• Six medals will be up for grabs in e-sports
• Five confirmed games are Dota 2, Starcraft 2, MLBB, AOV, Tekken 7

THE Grand Finals of the Malaysian National Selections for SEA Games 2019 have come to an end at Central i-City Shah Alam.

Since its recognition as a medal sport in 2018 and under the leadership of Ananth S Nathan, eSports Malaysia (ESM) have been working to ensure that Malaysia produces a successful debut at the regional sporting event.

“The inclusion of e-sports into the 30th edition of the SEA Games is a giant leap for the national body as well as our state associations and marks a major milestone in the expansion of e-sports here,” said Ananth, who assumed the reins of the ESM as the acting president on Feb 11, 2019.

Six medals will be up for grabs in e-sports at the SEA Games 2019 and a single e-sports demonstration event will be held in the Philippines before the actual games.

Five of the six game titles confirmed for SEA Games 2019 are Dota 2, Starcraft 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), Arena of Valor (AOV), and Tekken 7.

Malaysia wishes to take part in all five game titles and all slot selections are determined by Esports Malaysia, National Sports Council, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

“We now have our athletes. Let us prepare them for the upcoming SEA Games in the Philippines and bring home the gold medal and show Malaysia Boleh.” said Azlan, the acting Secretary of ESM.

Malaysia Esports Bootcamp will be spearheaded by the National Sports Council of Malaysia, together with ESM and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The first step is to gather selected e-sports athlete(s), game experts and industry players to prepare the best training regime for the respective e-sports titles in the bootcamp. The bootcamp will begin in July / August 2019 for the upcoming SEA Games 2019 in Philippines.

The Malaysian National Selection is a nationwide search for e-sports athletes to represent Team Malaysia at the upcoming Southeast Asian Games 2019 in the Philippines.

The selections are divided into three sections; State Qualifiers, National Grand Finals and Bootcamp. The format was designed by ESM to provide maximum participation potential on all levels starting with the grassroots and enhanced by the support of KBS and MSN by introducing the nation’s first e-sports development programme via a bootcamp.

The official period of commencement for the Malaysian National Selection began on March 15, 2019 with the opening of registration and will continue until the Southeast Asian Games in December 2019.