ESWC Malaysia 2008 Day 1 Recap

July 6, 2008 by Chapree

Let the tournament begins!

The first day of ESWC Malaysia 2008 finale weekend is the last chance for Counter-Strike and DoTA teams to qualify for the Grand Finals on Saturday. 11 CS and 25 DoTA teams compete against each other to grab the remaining four CS and two DoTA Grand Finals spots which resulted in some mighty intense match especially in CS.

Enough talk and let’s jump directly to the details.

ESWC Malaysia Official Website
ESWC Malaysia 2008 @ Lowyat.NET Forums

ESWC Malaysia 2008 Grand Finals Photo Gallery @ Multiplay’s Flickr

9:00pm - The main stage area…minus the stage.

The night before the competition starts, things looked a little bit worrying as the tournament area was relatively empty with many of important structures were yet to be up. It was quite a relief that when I came the next day, everything is already up minus couple of exhibitor booth and few PC island.

Also in the next morning, a miscommunication between the organizer’s management staff who handles the registration and tournament crews resulted in an overload of teams which has went to 25 teams instead of 16 teams. After a closed door discussions between the two parties, they decided to continue the tournament with 25 teams.

ESWC Malaysia organizer, sponsors and partners.

Nevertheless, as the day progresses, the tournament went on without any clock-stopping incidents. The event also receive an official opening ceremony later that afternoon, which was graced by one of the MDeC’s big kahunas - Kamil Othman together with representatives from ESWC Malaysia’s sponsors and partners.

High five, mate!

In Counter-Strike qualifiers, one should salute Kitrk who bulldozed two powerhouse - Brunei’s Roma Victor and the star-studded Mini-Emo. But it wasn’t an easy path for them as only couple of points differentiate between them and their opponents. Roma Victor then secured a 3rd place against Juilan. Regardless of the placings, all of the 4 teams are qualified for Saturday’s finale.

Too hungry ahhhhhh…*ngap*

Things were more easy-going at DoTA arena. Many of the competing teams are mix teams that consisted of players that were already part of qualified teams. So, if their teams win today’s tournament, they still have to go back to their own teams after all. At the end of the day, INC managed to be at the top of the pyramid by beating all their oppoenents including the second place’s team - DNA.

Your local friendly pop punk band - One Buck Shot.

Meanwhile, a separate gaming section were also available at Indie Youth Fest area, located near One Utama New Wing’s taxi stand. Among gaming booth available there was Gamer’s Hideout Xbox 360 stations, PLAY Interactive PlayStation 3 arena and MotorsportPlayground.com Gran Tursimo machines - equipped with Logitech wheels and carbon fibre bucket seats! There were also couple of local independent band performed at the nearby stage.

That’s all for Day 1, stay tune for Day 2!