Not to be sneezed at, is it?
On Sunday, Dublin’s 3Arena hosted Three Ireland’s EStars Final, in which two teams of young Irish men played against each other in a game, League of Legends, played by 27 million people around the world every day.
The winners of the game would receive a €20,000 prize, as well as a trip to Las Vegas to see what the gaming scene is like Stateside.
Before the competition started, each team was assigned to a League of Ireland club, and they would represent that club for the entirety of the tournament. The final on Sunday was between Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers. The format of the final was a best two out of three system, so the first team to win two games would be crowned the champions. As it happened, a third game wasn’t needed, as Sligo dominated both games and came out on top.
Take a look at just how exciting the games can get, and how invested the crowds were.
The Sligo team consisted of Darren Hopkins, Robert Cooney, Johny Cummins, Viktor Kudrickij and team captain Kevin Treanor.
Speaking about the victory, Treanor had this to say: “Honestly the entire experience was so surreal, from playing on stage in front of thousands of people to the prize itself. That being said, we only got as far as we did through incredible amounts of dedication from the team. It’s very easy to motivate yourself to practice as an individual and as a team when you’re doing something you love but I do think the lads deserved it.”
Although €20,000 is a lot for five young lads, the journey is only beginning for them.
Vegas is next, and Treanor reckons that Sligo should be quietly confident about it and thinks that how far they have come as a team will stand to them in the long run.
“I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come along as team as we’ve grown so much,” he told JOE.
“In the early weeks we were dropping random games but near the end of the competition, we were practising against teams looking to go pro. Honestly, it depends on the level of team we are playing against but I think we should do ourselves justice.”
The event in the 3Arena also featured live performances from Irish dancing sensations Prodijig and the F2 Freestylers.
Crowds loving @TheF2 skills workshop!#3EStars pic.twitter.com/vfzl7oACWZ
— EStars (@OfficialEStars) May 13, 2018
Following Sunday’s event, Kevin and the lads will travel to Las Vegas on an all expenses paid trip this summer and interact with some of the finest gamers the USA has to offer while they’re at it.
Here’s hoping they keep up the good work.
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