The Grand Finals of ESWC came to a climatic showdown today at Cineleisure E2Max.
Check out the key highlights of the event:
1320hrs - 26 players were registered and in their seats practising. The atmosphere had been building up with an intense tension lingering in the air. Word through the community vineyard was that it could be a Blitzrooney VS Xtreme finals, but with Xtreme using "Rangers" team, they were not sure if there would end in a "student beats mentor" scenario.
1355hrs - One of the qualified gamers, ImisskickingU, is missing! The briefing had begun and the tournament would have to continue but matches against him will be considered as a 3-0 loss for him unless he turns up.
1515hrs - Round 1 of Round Robin matches have ended. Both Blitzrooney and Xtreme have cleared their round 1 matches easily with scores of 5-2 and 6-0 respectively. The heat is building up with several players only managing to get draws. At this point, there is still no clear indication of who would survive the battle of the groups. Round 2 of the Round Robin matches are still underway.
1555hrs - Round 2 of the Round Robin matches have just concluded! 8 players have already made it through to the Knock Out segment of this selection. Group G has concluded with Demoman and Xtreme making it through to the Knock Out Stafe.The final round of the Round Robin matches is going on now. Selection for some of the groups were still very much open and this concluding round WOULD be the deciding round. Exciting snippets of player conversations were overheard - "If you score 1-0 against him and I draw, then I think I have a chance to go through..."
1620hrs - There was a bit of drama in Group C as Jokerlator launched a come-from-behind victory to draw the last match and earn his place in the Knock Out stage. He amazingly managed to go through based on goal difference of +6 versus Tsuna's -1 goal difference.
1640hrs - The Round Robin matches have concluded. It was yet another pulsatingly close one in Group H as its top 3 players had the same score of 6 points each, resulting in the usage of goal differences to determine the group's winners. Michokoform had +6, Coolnineone has -1 and Harezakaron has a +3 goal difference. Harezakaron and Michokoform emerged victorious in Group H. Details of the Round Robin matches score tables can be found here.
1650hrs - A pick was conducted to determine who the 16 finalists would be matched up against. The lineup for the 8 matches are:
Dante VS Xtreme
MAL VS Harezakaron
Siowwj VS Rebel
zZsleepZz VS Key
Demoman VS Reversed
RonnyWilkinson VS Yuooyx
Blitzrooney VS Jokerlator
Michikofform VS Zakizaki
1705hrs - The Knock Out matches are commencing shortly. The rules for this round are simple - Win 2 out of the 3 matches and you move on to the next round. One of the more highly anticipated matches is the match between Group G's undefeated Demoman and Reversed, who had been on a winning streak despite his slow start in the Group E matches. Xtreme would also be given his first real test in his match-up against Dante, who remains unbeaten in his group matches.
1800hrs - The most exciting match ofthe day just took place between Xtreme and Dante. Xtreme took Match 1 without much fanfare but Match 2 was a totally different ballgame. Dante surged in front with a 3-0 scoreline in first half, rallying the crowd to stand and watch on the big screen with eager anticipation. In the second half, Xtreme took the match to the next level by equalizing in quick succession.
Much can be said of Xtreme's experience and if there were any nerves involved, his poker face was simply not showing it at all! The match quickly went into extra time and it was a nail-biting neck to neck action with the match potentially swaying in either direction. Finally, the competition had to go into penalty shoot-out. A chill passed through the audience when Xtreme's first penalty shot was saved! However, Xtreme then went on to save 2 of Dante's penalty shots and ended up the eventual winner of this match-up, progressing into the next round. This was truly a real test for Xtreme, just as we expected!
Xtreme nerves of steel...
1815hrs - Yet another wave of excitement was spreading through the community grapevine. A mysteriously unknown player, who had never previously made any public event appearances till date, Ronnywilkinson, was proving to be quite an indomitable force! Having won all three matches in his group play and having just beaten Yuooyx 5-3 and 7-1 in two matches, players started to sit up and really notice him. Looks like this kid is the newcomer to watch!
Who is the mysteriously elusive Ronnywilkinson...?
1740hrs - The Knock Out rounds have come to an end as we move a step closer into the Semi-Finals rounds. Details of the Knock Out Round score tables can be found here.
1900hrs - The heat is getting unbearable! We are in the semi-finals and all the elites of the elite FOL2 players have all taken their positions. Blitzrooney, Xtreme, zzSleepzz and Ronnywilkinson will fight it out towards the final. Will the underdogs rule the day?
1935hrs - Both Blitzrooney and Xtreme show what it takes to become champion and win their matches in the semi-final with ease. It was almost a non-contest right from the start:
Xtreme vs zzSleepzz
Match 1. - 5 - 1
Match 2. - 6 - 2
Match 3. - N.A
Ronnywilkinson vs Blitzrooney
Match 1. - 3 - 7
Match 2. - 2 - 3
Match 3. - N.A
2000hrs - Yes! We are at the peak of today's competition. It is a match-up between Xtreme and Blitzrooney. Mentor vs Disciple. Who shall prevail in this exciting contest? Will Xtreme finally reveal the last of his tricks that he did not teach Blitzrooney or will Blitzrooney's innate talent prevail? We will know the conclusion in around 30 minutes time.
2105hrs - It was an end-to-end adrenaline rush of action between Xtreme and Blitzrooney in the first match, with neither giving much space to each other. Within 20 minutes, a flurry of goals were exchanged, with the final score for the first match ending with a very close score of 5-4 to Blitzrooney.
In the second match, Blitzrooney and Xtreme were once again neck-to-neck with goals scored with Xtreme trailing closely behind. Blitzrooney showed the audience why he deserved to be champion by scoring with a brilliant scissor kick for the 3rd goal and a dazzling zig-zag run into the box, resulting in the 4th goal.
The second match was disrupted due to PC issues but was resumed within 5 minutes, with a remaning 20 (in-game minutes) to go. The score then was at 5-3 and the resumed match did nothing to change that scoreline. Blitzrooney earned the cheers and respect of his audience and won himself the honor of representing Singapore in the ESWC Asia Masters from the 2nd May to 6th May 2009. We at IAHGames will be keeping track of his progress ESWC Asia Masters and will be keeping you guys updated on the website.
This has indeed been a great day of pulsating online action and intense competition. We thank all the participants for taking part in this selection and we hope to see positive results from our representative. You go! Blitzrooney!
In Blitzrooney, we trust.
Xtreme - First Runner-Up of ESWC SG Finals
Video Footage of ESWC Finals Match 1 (First Half) - Blitzrooney VS Xtreme:
ESWC Finals Match 1 (Second Half) - Blitzrooney VS Xtreme:
ESWC Finals Match 2 (First Half) - Blitzrooney VS Xtreme:
ESWC Finals Match 2 (Second Half) - Blitzrooney VS Xtreme:
Photos of the event can be viewed here.
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