Gamer.LK successfully held and concluded the SLT eSports Women’s Cyber Games 2019 on the 1st June at Play Arena. The top 8 Women Esports athletes were ranked and rewarded with a total prize pool of Rs. 100,000.

Each of the 8 contestants had their preferred game out of the 5 titles featured at the finals – Call of Duty 4, Mortal Kombat, Mario Kart, Subway Surfers and eRacer (Project Cars). A top placement in the game awarded 8 points, with each lower position getting one point less than the position above.

Call of Duty 4
First place: Kavindee V!n[K]y Kariyawasam (Clan: Noob Alliance)
Runner up: Kasuni tee-hee Lokuarachchi (Clan: Noob Alliance)
Third place: Janithi M-eS|SaLly CrUsher Gamage (Clan: Max Esports)

Mortal Kombat:
First place: Gnavindya buttercup magammulla (Clan: Xiphos Esports)
Runner up: Dhinelka PnX|BitSy Anthony (Clan: Phoenix Gaming)
Third place: Kavindee V!n[K]y Kariyawasam (Clan: Noob Alliance)

Mario Kart:
First place: Kavindee V!n[K]y Kariyawasam (Clan: Noob Alliance)
Runner-up: Yasara War Queen De Silva (Standalone)
Third place: Gnavindya buttercup magammulla (Clan: Xiphos Esports)

Subway Surfers:
First place: Gnavindya buttercup magammulla (Clan: Xiphos Esports)
Runner-up: Asanka M-es/ Supergirl Sajini (Clan: Max Esports)
Third place: Kasuni tee-hee Lokuarachchi (Clan: Noob Alliance)

eRacer (Project Cars):
First place: Dhinelka PnX|BitSy Anthony (Clan: Phoenix Gaming)
Runner-up: Yasara War Queen De Silva (Standalone)
Third place: Kasuni tee-hee Lokuarachchi (Clan: Noob Alliance)

Final standings
With all titles concluded, the final standing was as follows, along with the breakdown of the Rs. 100,000 prize pool which was transferred via the participants FriMi accounts. With the competition being so tight, we saw 2nd place 4th place being tied amongst 2 participants each!

1. Gnavindya buttercup magammulla (Prize money: Rs. 50,000) – 1st Place
2. Kavindee V!n[K]y Kariyawasam (Prize money: Rs. 17,500) – 2nd Place
3. Dhinelka PnX|BitSy Anthony (Prize money: Rs. 17,500) – 2nd Place
4. Kasuni tee-hee Lokuarachchi (Prize money: Rs. 3,750) – 4th Place
5. Yasara War Queen De Silva (Prize money: Rs. 3,750) – 4th Place
6. Asanka M-es/ Supergirl Sajini (Prize money: Rs. 2,500) – 6th Place
7. Laroshi chix0r Ganegoda Wijayatilake (Prize money: Rs. 2,500) – 7th Place
8. Janithi M-eS|SaLly CrUsher Gamage (Prize money: Rs. 2,500) – 8th Place

That brought to an end the first ever Women’s Cyber Games event organised by Gamer.LK with SLT eSports powering the event and FriMi being the official digital banking partner. Based on the success of the event, Gamer.LK plans to make this an annual championship with a larger scale next year!

The South Asia Champions Cup organised by Global Esports, a regional League tournament commenced on the 4th of May.

The following teams from Sri Lanka took part :

• PnX | Deiyo
• PnX | Lanka Lions
• PnX | R [ 3 ] D
• nA | Phase

Throughout the past few weeks these teams competed against the best in the region. The tournament ran a Round Robin format coupled with Single Elimination Bracket.

Group Stages Results

• PnX | Deiyo 2-1
• PnX | Lanka Lions 3-0
• PnX | R [ 3 ] D 2-1
• nA | Phase 2 – 1

PnX|Lanka Lions and PnX|Deiyo advanced to the playoff stages. Both nA|Phase and PnX | R [ 3 ] D on the other hand drew the short end of the stick. Their groups was stuck at a three way tie. Usual protocol would have meant that they played a tiebreaker against the teams tied together. However time constraints forced the organizers to consider the fastest win to split the tie. This meant that both teams were left at third place and could not proceed.

Playoffs Results

As PnX|Deiyo and PnX|Lanka Lions placed 1st and 2nd in their groups respectively they advanced onto the playoffs. Here the format was a strict single elimination with a best of three matchup. Unfortunately despite the best of their attempts both teams had to bow out of the tournament in the first knockout round. PnX|Lanka Lions went up against Team GraveKeepers and were defeated with score of 2-0. PnX|Deiyo went up against Team White Shadows which resulted in the same score.

A well-known figure in the Sri Lankan Esports Arena, Kushan “ FlasHBuLLeT “ Senanayake is no stranger when it comes to FIFA. Set to represent Sri Lanka in the upcoming Asian Football Gaming Championship in Singapore, we sat down with FlasHBuLLeT to talk about his journey to get to this moment.

Getting into gaming at an early age, FlasHBuLLeT has played through every genre of gaming possible.

First person shooters, racing simulators, sports titles, strategy games, you name it.

But, being an avid football player at school from the age of 10, he’s always had a natural affinity towards Electronic Art’s world famous football gaming title FIFA. Combining the best of both worlds, he started playing the game from its 1998 version onwards.

As the years went by and consoles became more mainstream due to their ease of use, FlasHBuLLeT found himself playing FIFA frequently with his friends – all you needed to do to join in on the fun was just plug in another controller. It was through his friend that he learned about the rise of competitive gaming in Sri Lanka. Armed with almost 10 years’ worth of experience, he made his competitive debut at the 2009 World Championship Gaming Sri Lankan qualifier and bested his opponents to claim a spot. All the years of practice and honing his skills finally paying off, he made it to China, for the main WCG 2009 event. With trick shots and a flashy display of his skills, FlasHBuLLeT defeated seasoned players from Bangladesh, India, and Serbia.

A rising star, he was beginning to get a real taste for competitive gaming.

Two years later, and fresh as ever, FlasHBuLLeT was on his way to Andong, South Korea to represent Sri Lanka once more at the IeSF 2011 World Championship. Running circles around his opponents, FlasHBuLLeT swiftly took down the players representing Russia and the USA. With two years of competitive play, he had built quite the impressive track record. Winning 5 out of the 10 games played at an international level, he claimed the title of best FIFA player in Sri Lanka for the year 2012.

With each passing year, FlasHBuLLeT became a force to reckon with, the absolute best in Sri Lankan FIFA. Snagging medals every year, he had become a highly decorated FIFA veteran, his winnings include

•         Sri Lanka Cyber Games (SLCG) 2014 – Gold medal
•         PS4 challenge cup 2014 – Gold medal
•         2 v 2 urban challenge silver medal 2015
•         SLT Esports Championship 2016 – Gold medal
•         SLCG 2016- Silver medal
•         SLCG 2018 – Gold medal

Slipping into his football boots once more this year, it was time for FlasHBuLLeT to represent Sri Lanka once again – flying to Malaysia, for the ES sports championship in April 2019. Playing a grand total of 14 matches versus opponents varying in skill from both ends of the spectrum, he broke even. Winning 5 against players from Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore and losing 5. While FlasHBuLLeT was accustomed to a high caliber of competition, this tournament, however, was on a different scale of proportions.

Awestruck by how far Esports had come, he realized how it had grown into a multibillion-dollar industry he says.

“Sponsorships, contracts and the acknowledgment as athletes, it’s intense when you think about it. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for Sri Lanka.“

Apart from being an Esports Athlete, Kushan “ FlasHBuLLeT “ Senanayake is both academically and athletically gifted as well. At his alma mater Thurstan College, he played Football at a national level for 8 years and continued this streak at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura for another 4 years. As a result of his 12-year Football career, he is a highly decorated colors man at both Thurstan College and the University of Sri Jayawardenepura.

As for his academic prowess, FlasHBuLLeT methodically balanced his studies with sports and esports to a great extent. While he did start his gaming journey at the age of 9, he has also aced every exam thrown his way, Scoring 9 As for his O/Ls and 3 As for his A/Ls. He furthered his studies with a management degree at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, has completed CIMA and is currently reading for the last level of CFA.

When asked about the future of FIFA in Sri Lankan Esports, FlasHBuLLeT had the following to say;

“ The Sri Lankan FIFA community is brimming with talent and untapped potential. I can confidently say that I’m not even in the top 5 when it comes to pure skill. But, in all my years of playing FIFA at a competitive level, I’ve learned that skill just isn’t enough to get you to the top.

Composure, confidence, and perseverance in the heat of the moment are what gets you to the top, and it’s what inexperienced players lack. Hard work and experience easily beats raw talent.

Right now, we’re in a really interesting place when it comes to Sri Lankan Esports as a whole.
Esports is growing at an accelerated with all the sponsorships and prizes up for grabs and so is FIFA, it’s crazy and it’s only going to get bigger.

 

My advice for budding FIFA Esports Athletes?
Never give up and make every match a learning experience. “

Capitalizing on his colorful history in Esports and experiences at recent tournaments, FlasHBuLLeT hopes to make a top 8 finish at this year’s Asian Football Gaming Championship in July, we wish him the very best.