A crowd of over 200 showed up at the Keero gaming café on the 24th of June 2018 to find out who would be crowned the champions at Kings of Lan tournament. The event showed a lot of promise given the number of participants who were up bright and early to make sure they don’t miss out on their chance to take part in this event which was organized by Gamer.LK which was powered by Dialog gaming alongside technology partners MSI and official energy drink partner RedBull.

The event kicked off at around 10.00 am with an exciting Special Forces 2 match between Maximum Esports team GoDaddy and Maximum Esports team Ox!de closely followed by the individual titles which were Tekken 7, FIFA 18, Injustice 2, Project Cars and finally Clash Royale.

The first game of Special Forces 2 brought on an early hype to the day as the match was between two teams from the same clan and there was a lot of friendly rivalry as both teams played exceptionally well. Every game after seemed to have an amazing history behind it as there was a lot of excitement and intensity in every game with teams going head to head winning by the smallest margin, but in the end PnX Allstars took the title coming out on top against nA team reconnected to win the Special Forces 2 title.

Another title that saw a major upset was Tekken 7 with some new faces turning up at the event a lot of new talent was on display, the matches following up to the finals all were evenly matched and seemed like it could have gone either way. The final match for Tekken 7 was between Ashen “Blazer” Samaranayake from n00b Alliance and his long time rival Roshan “JURA” Jurampathy from Phoenix gaming. Blazer has shown some amazing dominance with his all time favorite character Yoshimitsu but  JURA who had put in a lot of time studying his opponent and long time rival finally managed to figure out how to bring down Blazer’s Yoshimitsu who strayed away from his usual Kazumi pick which was one of his most feared characters that he had mastered and went with Katarina who seemed to be the answer as he ended up taking the number 1 spot for himself winning the Tekken 7 title.

FIFA 18 as always was another highly contested title having over 40 participants taking part. Akeel “VeNoM” Ameerdeen from n00b Alliance showed great consistency as he overcame obstacle after obstacle to compete in the finals against Ashen “Penaldo” katagoda from Tech Morph who also created a few major upsets to get into the finals. In an exciting final Akeel ”VeNoM” Ameerdeem came out on top to clench the victory against Ashen to take the title for FIFA 18

On the flipside, we saw the usual dominance in Clash Royale coming out from Joel ‘Daniel’ Joung who made his way to the finals pretty easily given that he is a very talented young individual with a lot of experience in the game making it all the way to the finals without so much as breaking a sweat. Joel who recently took part in the South Asian qualifiers for the Asian Games 2018 showed great form and patience during his games to outplay and outpace his opponents. Haniff Ameen once again fell short of glory going up against his rival Joel both from n00b Alliance was not able to find the right answer to deal with Joel’s quick and devastating tactics falling short of the number 1 spot and ending up as the runner up with Joel taking the champions spot for Clash Royale.

Injustice 2 saw its usual dominance coming out from Rashad “RaSSyCZaR” Ameer from Xiphos Esports who comfortably made his way to the finals with not much effort. His close friend and long time rival Umashankar “Redwire” also from Xiphos Esports found himself taking on Rashad in the finals after defeating a number of opponents fell short during the finals and was not able to secure the number 1 spot which ended up in Rashad’s hands.

Project cars saw quite an interesting upset as Rasheed “BIGHORN” Ameer from Xiphos Esports who was the rank number 1 player for Project Cars fell short during the finals up against Hafzel Preena from Phoenix gaming and uncharacteristically making one small mistake which allowed Hafzel to clinch the title for Project Cars with a better timing.

The overall championship was a tie between Phoenix Gaming and n000b Alliance with Xiphos Esports coming in at second place. With some tough fought battles and rivalries it definitely was an unexpected outcome with the players from each clan fighting to the bitter end to earn the number one spot for Kings of LAN 2018.

The day was filled with alot of excitement and competition every participant giving it their best to bring down the walls that they faced. Kings of LAN once again coming out a success bringing with it some intense competition and gameplay from all who participated we hope to see more of these exciting times as Esports grows further and takes new corners in the upcoming future.

The National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOC) is scheduled to introduce Esports at the Olympic Day celebrations happening in Nuwara Eliya on June 25. Raveen Wijayatilake, President of the Sri Lanka Esports Association (SLESA) presented Esports to the media at the press conference held by the NOC for the Olympic Day celebrations. Mr. Wijayatilake spoke of what Esports is and why it has developed into one of the fastest growing sports both in Sri Lanka and abroad..

“We are one of the few National Olympic Committees in the world to support Esports as we believe firmly that is the future,” revealed Maxwell De Silva, NOC secretary general. “We will introduce eSports to our youth at our Olympic Day which will once again be held under the theme of ‘Move, Learn and Discover’.”

Esports made its debut as a demonstration sport at the Asian Games 2018, where the Sri Lankan national Esports team will represent the South Asian region in the title StarCraft 2. Esports athlete Amruth “AmyPie” Alfred beat competitors from Pakistan and the Maldives to secure a qualifying spot in Indonesia in August. Esports will be a medal sport at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

The full article can be found on the Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee website: http://www.srilankaolympic.org/all-news/esports-make-appearance-nocs-olympic-day

The National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOC) is scheduled to introduce Esports at the Olympic Day celebrations happening in Nuwara Eliya on June 25. Raveen Wijayatilake, President of the Sri Lanka Esports Association (SLESA) presented Esports to the media at the press conference held by the NOC for the Olympic Day celebrations. Mr. Wijayatilake spoke of what Esports is and why it has developed into one of the fastest growing sports both in Sri Lanka and abroad..

“We are one of the few National Olympic Committees in the world to support Esports as we believe firmly that is the future,” revealed Maxwell De Silva, NOC secretary general. “We will introduce eSports to our youth at our Olympic Day which will once again be held under the theme of ‘Move, Learn and Discover’.”

Esports made its debut as a demonstration sport at the Asian Games 2018, where the Sri Lankan national Esports team will represent the South Asian region in the title StarCraft 2. Esports athlete Amruth “AmyPie” Alfred beat competitors from Pakistan and the Maldives to secure a qualifying spot in Indonesia in August. Esports will be a medal sport at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

The full article can be found on the Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee website: http://www.srilankaolympic.org/all-news/esports-make-appearance-nocs-olympic-day

Metropolitan Computers (Pvt) Ltd, the premier IT retailer for the world’s best brands launched the latest Acer lineup of products powered by Intel Optane Memory for the first time in Sri Lanka. The authorized distributor for Acer computers in Sri Lanka, Metropolitan Computers continues to make its mark in Sri Lanka’s technology landscape, and this is another milestone in its efforts.

At the launch, Marketing Director of Acer introduced the newest updates to their popular Predator series which is focused on high performance gaming, and the refreshed features of the Nitro series of laptops in the form of the Nitro 5. A large gathering including partners and customers from across the country participated at the occasion.

One of the highlight of the new product range was the inbuilt the Intel Optane Memory. Intel Optane Memory offers an unprecedented combination of high-capacity and persistence. By moving and maintaining larger amounts of data closer to the processor, workloads and services can be optimized to reduce latencies and enhance performance. Intel Optane Memory lets you accelerate your game by allowing launch and level-loading at unprecedented speeds – without the usual speed bumps. Whether you’re blasting through hyperspace or filing the lane on a fast break, you’ll enjoy a smooth, rich gaming experience, with less lag time and reduced performance bottlenecks. In addition, it learns the tasks you perform most frequently from system startup to file search, to program launch and steps on the gas to give you the extra boost you need.

These latest Acer products are available at any Metropolitan Mcenter showroom where you can fulfill all your IT requirements along with the world’s best brands. Backed by 60 years of Metropolitan trust, Metropolitan Mcenter showrooms are available island-wide with supportive staff and team, ready to educate on any product with reliable technical assistance at the showrooms itself.

The centerpiece of the gaming range was the Predator Orion 9000, which is a pre-built desktop with specs that can only be described as overkill; a GTX 1080 Ti with 11 GB of vram, 32 gigabytes of RAM, a 512 GB SSD with an added capacity of a 3 TB hard disk and an i9 7900X sitting at the heart of the computer for heavy content creation focused applications during gaming.

The Predator Orion 5000 was also introduced, with specs more in line with mainstream gaming requirements; a GTX 1070 Ti with 8 GB of vram, a 256 GB SSD with an added 1 TB of hard disk storage, 16 gigabytes of RAM and a i7 8700k to power it all. All in all this build is more likely to be popular as it will be more cost effective than the aforementioned 9000 series, while still being able to run any games released in the next few years at maxed out or near maxed out settings.

The Predator Helios 500 gaming laptop, which packs a powerful punch in a more compact form factor; consisting of a GTX 1070 with 8 GB of vram, 32 gigabytes of RAM, a 512GB SSD with an added 2 TB of hard disk storage, all capped by an i9-8950HK into a 15.6” thin body. This laptop, unlike most, makes no tradeoff between performance and portability, offering a desktop level gaming experience on the go.

The Nitro 5, a more lightweight laptop geared towards lighter gaming, consisting of a GTX 1050 with 4GB vram, 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB SSD with an added 1 TB of hard disk storage, all being powered by an i7-8750H processor, packed into a 15.6” thin body. While this laptop isn’t as powerful as the flagship Helios 500, it will still deliver adequate performance with it’s GTX 1050 and i7 processor. Staying true to its core, Acer continues to deliver lifestyle products to suit your profession, image and requirements in life.

All these Acer systems will come with a copy of Windows 10 preinstalled and two years warranty on the systems. In addition, the Orion 5000 and 9000 comes with DVD-RW drives equipped as well.

Two monitors were also unveiled at the launch; the XZ350CU and the XR382CQK.

Of the two, the more mainstream is the XZ350CU, which is a massive 35” curved ultra-widescreen display with a resolution of 2560×1080 with the added benefit of a ultra-smooth refresh rate of 200Hz. Combined with DTS Sound, multitasking and great design, this monitor is worthy of the most advanced gaming setups. The monitor also has the following I/O: HDMI (v2.0) + HDMI (v1.4)/MHL (v2.0) + DisplayPort (v1.2) + DisplayPort out (v1.2) + USB Hub 3.0×4 (1up 4down) + Speaker. This monitor also supports FreeSync, which will allow smoother gameplay on AMD cards.

The XR382CQK is a 37.5” UltraWide QHD resolution curved widescreen display, with the latest Adaptive-Sync technology offering stutter-free and tear-free gaming and DTS® Sound speakers to amp up the audio. Boasting of a maximum resolution of 3440 x 1600 and a modest standard refresh rate of 75Hz, the monitor sports a curved UltraWide QHD display with ColorPlus technology, including 100% sRGB gamut and 6-axis color adjustment for a perfect picture. IPS1 technology lets you see clearly from nearly any angle. This monitor is more geared towards content creators, but it does have the benefit of FreeSync which will pair very well with AMD cards. The monitor also has the following I/O:HDMI (v2.0) + MHL (v2.1) + DP + mini DP + DP out + Audio out + USB Hub 3.0×4 (1up 4down) + Speaker.

In addition, Acer has introduced new models to its Swift, Spin and Switch lineup of thin & light series of devices as well.

With the continued introduction of cutting edge, innovative yet affordable products Metropolitan Computer’s re-emphasize its leading role in the industry and helps demonstrate its commitment to the market while maintaining a successful long term relationship with all dealers.

From Left to right

Mr. Ivor Maharoof- Managing Director –Metropolitan Group

Ms. Li Shi Chia– Marketing Director – Acer Singapore

Mr. Andrew Hou – President of Acer Pan Asia Pacific regional Operations.

Mr. Saumitra Rai- Head of Sales , South Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea for Intel

Mr. Sunil Nair – General Manager – Sales , Acer Singapore

A total of 27 countries and regions competed in the Asian Games South Asia Qualifiers which were held from June 6 to 20, 2018. StarCraft II and Hearthstone took the form of online matches while Arena of Valor and the Clash Royale qualifiers were conducted offline in Hong Kong, China. For League of Legends, the South Asia and Southeast Asia qualifiers were held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The Sri Lankan national team took part in the South Asia qualifier and showed a strong performance against the other South Asian Esports countries. These are the results for Sri Lanka at the Asian Games qualifiers for 2018

StarCraft II

StarCraft was a best of 3 round robin with the winner receiving one point and the defeated receiving no points

Sri Lanka took on Maldives and Pakistan in this South Asia qualifier round and with a dominant performance coming out from Amruth “Amypie” Alfred who bested both the  participants from their respected countries securing a spot for the Asian Games 2018. Amruth will be travelling to Indonesia in August to represent Sri Lanka at the Asian Games Esports Championship!

HearthStone

Hearthstone was a best of 5 round robin stage where the winner received one point and the defeated receive no points at all.

Sri lanka’s Rameshkumar Uthyakumar took on the representatives from India and Pakistan in the South Asian qualifier round managing to beat Pakistan but ultimately coming in second to India who triumphed against Sri lanka as well as Pakistan to earn them a spot through the qualifier.

Pro Evolution Soccer 18

Pro Evolution Soccer was a best of 3 1v1 followed by a 2v2 and concluded on another 1v1. Winner receiving 1 point and the defeated receiving no points.

Sri lanka’s dynamic duo of Mohamed Mufeeb and Shihab Rizan took on the representatives from Maldives and India during the Pro Evolution Soccer 18 qualifiers showing promise but not being able to defeat Maldives or India during the qualifier placing 3rd in the South Asia qualifier

League of Legends

League of Legends was a best of 1 double round robin with the winner receiving 1 point and the defeated receiving no points.

The South Asia bracket consisted of Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal during the qualifiers. The Sri lankan team consisting of Hilal Jismy, Achintha Konara, Ashik Saleeth, Shalitha Chandraratne and Akthar Hafeez fought valiantly and managed to best most of the countries taking part but fell short against Pakistan. Sri Lanka ended up tied for second place with India with Pakistan remaining undefeated during the qualifier which solidified their spot at the Asian Games 2018.

Clash Royale

Clash Royale was a best of 5 round robin stage where the winner received one point and the defeated receive no points at all.

Sri lanka’s Joel “Daniel” Joung took on representatives from India, Pakistan and Maldives during this South Asian qualifier for Clash Royale with Sri Lanka managing to get ahead during the initial match but falling short later to earn 1 point in the bracket defeating Pakistan. India came out on top with Maldives in second, placing Sri lanka in third place during the South Asian qualifier..

“With the support of NOCs, the Indonesia Asian Games Organising Committee, member Esports federations and other supporters, we are delighted the Qualifier Competitions were smoothly carried out,” said Mr Kenneth Fok, AESF President. “Again, we are grateful for OCA’s commitment to include Esports as a demonstration event at the 2018 Asian Games.”

Source:

AESF announced results of the Regional Qualifier Competitions for the Asian Games 2018
https://www.aesf.com/news.html?w=news8

Following up on our breakdown of Esports taking place at the Asian Games 2018, we take a closer look at Hearthstone on a competitive stage at the Asian Games.

What is Hearthstone

The game is a turn-based card game between two opponents, using constructed decks of 30 cards along with a selected hero with a unique power. Players use their limited mana crystals to play abilities or summon minions to attack the opponent, with the goal of reducing the opponent’s health to zero. Winning matches and completing quests earn in-game gold, rewards in the form of new cards, and other in-game prizes. Players can then buy packs of new cards through gold or microtransactions to customize and improve their decks. The game features several modes of play, including casual and ranked matches, as well as single-player adventures. New content for the game involves the addition of new card sets and gameplay, taking the form of either expansion packs or adventures that reward the player with collectible cards upon completion.

Sri Lankan Representative Rameshkumar Uthayakumar

Rameshkumar Uthyakumar is a Hearthstone enthusiast who is a veteran at the game. With Hearthstone having a variable amount of decks that can be built, the competition will always be tough; having a range of a minimum of 6 classes with different card combinations the task seems daunting. That won’t stop Rameshkumar from putting in his best effort to secure a place for his nation as he has been training rigorously to perfect his skill at the game.

We had a few moments to catch up with Rameshkumar and this is what he had to say.

“I’m honoured to represent my country at the Asian Games 2018. It is a dream come true taking part in a competition of this magnitude. Esports being introduced in an Olympic standard is the way forward, hope to see Esports during the Olympics in the near future too.”

With all the time and dedication that Rameshkumar has put into polishing his skills, he hopes to claim a spot for Sri Lanka at the qualifier while also testing his mettle at an international standard.

We wish Rameshkumar the best of luck at the qualifiers, with the knowledge that he will do his country proud employing his skill at Hearthstone.

Following up on our breakdown of Esports taking place at the Asian Games 2018, with titles such as Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), League of Legends,Starcraft II, Hearthstone, Clash Royale and Arena of Valor, which are all on display as demonstrational titles, we take a closer look at Clash Royale on a competitive stage at the Asian Games.

In Clash Royale, players are ranked by their trophy count. Players level up by gaining Experience (or King Level) points through donating and/or upgrading cards. The highest possible level is level 13.

Trophies are won or lost through multiplayer battles, a player wins a battle by destroying more towers than the opponent (each destroyed tower being represented as a ‘crown’), or by destroying the opponent’s King’s Tower, resulting in an automatic “three-crown” victory (unless the King’s Tower was destroyed at the same time by both players, resulting in a draw).

Playable units, buildings, and spells are represented as cards. Prior to each battle , players construct a deck of eight cards which they use to attack and defend against their opponent’s cards. At the start of each game, both players begin with four randomly chosen cards from their deck of eight.

Each card costs a certain amount of elixir to play. Players start the battle with 5 elixir points, and one elixir point is replenished every 2.8 seconds,with a maximum of 10 elixir points. Once a card is played, a new card is automatically drawn from the player’s eight card deck.

As of June? 2018 there are 84 cards in the game, coming in four rarities: Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary, with Legendary being the rarest.

Joel “Daniel” Joung has been at the top of Sri Lanka’s Clash Royale leaderboard ever since its introduction, establishing a name as one of the most feared and respected players of the game. Joel will rightfully be donning the national jersey to take on a higher skill bracket at the Asian Games with a shot at showcasing his true skill and talent whilst representing Sri Lanka.

We had a moment to have a chat with Joel and this is what he had to say;

“As the Asian Games is Asia’s biggest multi sport event i would expect talented and gifted players from multiple nations to participate in this event. As this is such a huge event, I don’t have high expectations of winning, however i would expect all games to be legendary and highly skilled.

Esports being introduced by the Asian Games is definitely one of the best choices made by the organisers as Esports is also similar to a normal sport. Esports requires talent,skill and practice which only a few will achieve in a very high level. Therefore Asian games has made a wonderful choice introducing Esports”

Joel has been consistently proving himself as a name to be feared on the Sri Lankan Clash Royale grounds, will he be able to establish the same dominance on an international stage? We hope his training will pay dividends, whilst wishing him the best of luck in his endeavors at the qualifiers on the 18th of June 2018.

About StarCraft II

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the long-awaited sequel to the original StarCraft, Blizzard Entertainment’s critically acclaimed sci-fi real-time strategy game. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is both a challenging single-player game and a fast-paced multiplayer game.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty was designed so that players can learn the basics with ease; you’ll be building bases and commanding armies in no time. StarCraft II is a strategy game played in real-time. You see the action from a top-down perspective and command your armies to gain control of the battlefield and ultimately defeat your opponents. The game’s single-player campaign focuses on the Terrans, but you can play multiplayer matches as any of the three StarCraft II races: the Terrans, the Protoss, or the Zerg.

Each race has access to unique units; these units fill specific roles on the battlefield. Combining different units to form versatile armies is one path to victory.

The most basic units at your command are your workers. They harvest the resources you need to expand your base and to add more units to your growing army, and your workers also create new buildings. More advanced units become available once your base meets certain requirements, such as having constructed certain buildings or researched certain technologies.

In multiplayer matches, you win the game when you’ve wiped all your enemy’s buildings off the map or if the other players surrender to you.

Sri Lankan Representative Amruth Alfred

Amruth “AmyPie” Alfred is a StarCraft II enthusiast who has been training vigorously over the past 3 months to solidify a top spot for Sri Lanka at the Asian Games where the StarCraft II qualifiers kick off today, the 15th of June 2018. Catching up with Amruth, this is what he had to say about Esports being introduced as a demonstrative sport as well as his expectations for the StarCraft II qualifiers.

“I think it’s amazing that Esports is being recognized on larger and larger scales, this is something that’s needed to educate people on Esports, it’s not just sitting in front of a computer and pressing buttons, its much more. Being introduced into an Olympic event gives it the recognition it deserves, and allows players to develop their potential instead of being shunned away from gaming. As for my expectations, I only started StarCraft 2 around 3 months ago, but I have a strong passion towards it so I have been constantly learning and practicing, and this allowed me to rapidly increase my skill level. Still, the players in this tournament, on average, have been playing for years, so it will be a tough competition, but I’m sure I can give a good game at the very least.

We wish Amruth “AmyPie” Alfred the best of luck knowing that he will do his country proud with the effort he has put into StarCraft II.

• Regional qualifiers held online, kicks off today, the 12th of June 2018 at the Ultra Gaming Colombo café in Maradana.
• Mohamed Mufeeb and Shihab Rizan will be donning the responsibilities of the two representatives from Sri Lanka for PES, both carrying experience in both Pro Evolution Soccer as well as FIFA.
• Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s first connectivity provider to launch a mobile gaming platform, aims to empower the local pro-gaming community by powering cyber athletes to represent Sri Lanka in the Asian Games 2018.

With the introduction of eSports as a demonstrational title in the upcoming Asian Games 2018, we take a look at one of the titles that was picked up; “Pro Evolution Soccer”, which is a series of football video games developed and published by Konami. For those who do not know about Pro Evolution Soccer, there will invariably be comparisons drawn between it and the more mainstream FIFA, the main differences being the mechanics on the pitch, which are regarded as being more satisfactory on PES, along with the licensing, where FIFA is undoubtedly the king.

The regional qualifiers for the PES tournament, which will be held online, kicks off today, the 12th of June 2018 at the Ultra Gaming Colombo café in Maradana. With the stage set, the players geared and ready to go, it all lies in the hands of the players as we anticipate a good outcome from the matches. While the stakes will always be high when representing your motherland, these players have put a lot of effort into making it as the representatives for Sri Lanka and we can expect to see a lot of entertaining and nail-biting action in the upcoming qualifiers.

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s first connectivity provider to launch a mobile gaming platform, aims to empower the local pro-gaming community by powering cyber athletes to represent Sri Lanka in the Asian Games 2018. Recognizing the potential and growth for cyber athletes in the country,  Dialog continues to spearhead eSports and support the community to challenge global gamers on international platforms.

Supun Jayasinghe (Product Manager-Gaming Services) Dialog Axiata PLC, had this to say with regards to Dialog’s vision on eSports;

“Dialog Gaming’s vision is to create the No.1 gaming experience and propel the future of eSports in the country. As the main sponsor of the teams, we hope to provide opportunity for talent within the country.” He added, “Dialog Gaming currently connects Sri Lankans to the largest mobile gaming platform, and we are certain the future of eSports will be a cyber athlete receiving an equivalent recognition to that of an athlete.”

Mohamed Mufeeb and Shihab Rizan will be donning the responsibilities of the two representatives from Sri Lanka for PES, both carrying experience in both Pro Evolution Soccer as well as FIFA, these players are no pushovers and have been training endlessly for a chance at glory and making their country proud. Having taken part in many of the tournaments held here in Sri Lanka, these players are no strangers to competing at the highest level of play. Will their determination and tenacity be enough to help them secure a spot at the Asian Games 2018?

With the tremendous amount of hours and practice these players have put in we wish both of them the best of luck at the qualifiers and hope that they prove to themselves and to their country that they have what it takes to reach the top.

Find out what the players had to say in the video below:

The Olympic Council of Asia is organizing the 18th edition of the Asian Games in 2018 which will be hosted in Palembang and Bandung, Jakarta.

The following eSports titles have been confirmed for this year’s event where eSports is being included as a demonstration title : Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), League of Legends,Starcraft II, Hearthstone, Clash Royale and Arena of Valor.

The Asian Games are a multi-sport event held every four years, much like the Olympic Games, but confined to the region of Asia. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the second largest event of its kind, second only to the Olympic Games themselves. This is a historic moment as eSports athletes from Sri Lanka compete for the first time at a major mainstream sporting event such as the Asian Games.

With the stage set and the teams preparing, we take a look at our very own Sri Lankan League of Legends team, as they gear up for what seems to be a pivotal stride into the future as the light finally shines on eSports at an Olympic level. With players who have reached the pinnacle of League of Legends here in Sri Lanka, such as Hilal Jismy, Achintha Konara, Ashik Saleeth, Shalitha Chandraratne and Akthar Hafeez included in the roster we can look forward to some epic action as they strive to make their mark and live the experience of a lifetime on an international platform such as at the Asian Games 2018.

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s first connectivity provider to launch a mobile gaming platform, aims to empower the local pro-gaming community by powering cyber athletes to represent Sri Lanka in the Asian Games 2018. Recognizing the potential and growth for cyber athletes in the country,  Dialog continues to spearhead eSports and support the community to challenge global gamers on international platforms.

Commenting on Dialog’s vision to power eSports in Sri Lanka Supun Jayasinghe (Product Manager-Gaming Services), Dialog Axiata PLC said,

“Dialog Gaming’s vision is to create the No.1 gaming experience and propel the future of eSports in the country. As the main sponsor of the teams, we hope to provide opportunity for talent within the country.” He added, “Dialog Gaming currently connects Sri Lankans to the largest mobile gaming platform, and we are certain the future of esports will be a cyber athlete receiving an equivalent recognition to that of an athlete.”

We took this moment of calm before the storm of the competition breaks out, to catch up with Ashik “Ash” Saleeth,one of the best players of League of Legends here in Sri Lanka, about what we can expect from him and his team at the Asian Games as they face some of the best teams in the region and his take on eSports taking a step forward into Olympic standard.

“Honestly, I am more than excited for the opportunity I’ve received to test my gameplay on international grounds, about recognition; I couldn’t be happier that something that was so underrated a few years back is finally receiving its proper stature. We did run into few adjustments on the roster for unavoidable reasons but overall, I have complete faith in my team, they will contribute their best effort and will definitely strive for nothing less than victory on the international stage.

As a player representing the country, I want to win as far as I can possibly compete for. On a personal aspect I am here to showcase my skill, my gameplay and push through whoever stands in my way. Simply putting in an insane amount of hours to the game as one team instead of 5 individuals. Improvements in synergy is mostly all we needed since the team consists of some of the best players the country could offer.” – Ashik “Ash” Saleeth

We leave the Lankan team to their preparations, knowing that they will undoubtedly display the raw skill they are known for in Sri Lanka, proving on the international stage that Sri Lankan talent is ready to face the global eSports challenges