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Press Release: Malaysian ‘Cyber athletes’ clinch Silver Medal at Electronic Sports World Cup.

Team Kingsurf competes against the rest of the world at the sixth Electronic Sports World Cup in San Jose, USA from 25-27 August 2008

San Jose, USA, 28 August 2008 – The sixth edition of the Electronic Sports World Cup, the most exciting electronic sports competition which gathered 650 video gamers from 40 countries in San Jose Convention Center in California from 25-27 August 2008 came to a close today following an intense three days of competition.

Organised by ESWC Master Licensees Go International Group Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, the Malaysian contingent comprised of a team of six Malaysian youth aged between 18 to 23 years old. “The sportsmanship showed by our Malaysian team was highly commendable. The ESWC offers youth a platform to not only pit their skills in video games, but also to play against the top gamers from around the world. An added incentive was the opportunity to win large amounts of cash rewards which can help them better their game for more global competitions,” said Jasmine Low, Managing Director from Go International Group and Team Manager for the Malaysian Contingent in San Jose, USA.In the first worldwide international competition for Warcraft Defense of the Ancients (5v5 DotA), gamers competed for the US$26,000 prize pool for first, second and third placings.Showing no signs of jetlag, Team Malaysia Kingsurf was on a winning streak by winning first place in Group A having beaten teams from Pakistan (S3X), Sweden (SK Gaming), Canada (Nafu), France (Serious Gaming) and United States (EvilGeniuses) on Day 1 of the competition on 25 August 2008. Day 2 followed with Singapore’s Team Zenith sweeping wins in Group B from favourites from Romania (TheElderGods), Denmark (MeetYourMakers), United States (Jukes on You) and Brazil (Fearz). Both Singapore’s Zenith and Malaysia’s Kingsurf secured a place in the Winner’s bracket for the finals on Day 3 whilst Denmark’s MeetYourMakers met with the United States’ Evil Geniuses. Following an hour and a half’s play in one of the most popular games in Asia, Team Kingsurf were defeated by Singapore’s Zenith and took home the Silver medal.

Team Malaysia Kingsurf from Johor Bahru are Lee Wen Chek a.k.a. “Xiaogui” (age 20), Ng Wei-Poong a.k.a. “Yamateh” (age 18), Lee Vei Siang a.k.a. “PapaXiong” (age 18), Ng Kim Jen a.k.a. Sakura (age 20) and Mar Yung-Chia a.k.a. x|aOmA (age 20). Another of Malaysia’s players, Tang Chee Keong “Luige” played in the car racing game, Trackmania Nations Forever and secured 25th placing amongst the 30 contenders from around the world. The six gamers created history as the first professional gamers to have the privilege to meet with Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Abdullah Badawi before departing for San Jose, USA last week.

Hosted by NVIDIA during the NVISION, the ESWC 2008 held for the first time outside of France, provided over 360 computers with games on the main stage broadcasted via the Internet during the entire tournament. Highlights of the three-day event included an appearance by astronaut Buzz Aldrin, keynote speeches by Co-Founder and CEO of NVIDIA, Jen-Hsun Huan and the successful completion of Guinness Book of Records for the largest LAN party in the world!

Ends.

Note to Editors:

1. Photographs and further information are available on www.eswc.com and www.eswcmalaysia.wordpress.com.

2. Captions for enclosed photo (DSC049658): The superb Team Malaysia Kingsurf (back row): Lee Vei Siang “Ks PapaXiong” and Mar Yung Chia “Ks XIaOmA” (front row): Lee Wen Chek “Ks XiaoGui”, Ng Kim Jen “Ks Sakura”, Ng Wei Poong, “Ks YamateH”.

3. More photographs are available www.eswcmalaysia.wordpress.com

FACT SHEET

About Electronic Sports World Cup
ESWC is the foremost world championship in e-sports. Established in France in 2003, the competition has garnered interest from around the world and gathered over 650 gamers from over 40 countries in the first competition ever held outside of Europe.ESWC 2008 Malaysia was conducted from 4-6 July 2008 at 1 Utama Shopping Centre in Kuala Lumpur and is sponsored by Intel, Blue Thunder, Yokohama Battery, Manli Graphics, Sendi Mutiara Multimedia, Steel Series and War Mart; and is endorsed by the Creative Multimedia Content Initiative of the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDEC) and attracted a total of 1027 participants who signed up for Qualifiers held nationwide in ten locations including East Malaysia. Supporting partners include Extreme Garment, 8TV, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, E-Club Online Management, Play Interactive, EMI, MNC, Cool Rhino with team’s batik garments by Meesha Sukira.

About Go International Group Sdn Bhd
A marketing and communication solutions company founded in 2006, Go International Group abides by four values; Sharing of Insights, Integrity, Valour and Love. Official organiser and license owner of ESWC in Malaysia, Go is committed to serving youth. It produces events, which empower young Malaysians to step up into the world. The group has pledged to enhance e-sports via ESWC 2008 Malaysia; and to produce an independent short film on the event. Go has avidly supported the ‘indie’ scene via its regular community project, Doppelganger Open Mic and Stage, which has offered youth a platform for creative expression since 2002. More about Go International Group at www.gointernationalgroup.com; more about ESWC 2008 Malaysia at www.eswc.com/malaysia; more about Indie Youth Fest at www.indieyouthfest.wordpress.com

MEDIA CLIPPINGS

photo copyright gointernationalgroup.com archives

Team Kingsurf in Malaysian National Daily - The Star