BANGKOK—Bleed Esports massacred SCARZ in the finals, 3-0, to rule the 2023 VCT Ascension Pacific Playoffs and secure its spot in the 2024 and 2025 Pacific League, and in the Masters and Champions Tournaments featuring the best Valorant teams from other regions.
Bleed, the team from Malaysia and Singapore, completely dominated their Japanese rivals, 13-9, 13-2 and 13-8 in the best of five finals held recently at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand. A lot of fans who came to watch the finals expected a close match between Bleed and SCARZ and were completely surprised at how Bleed played a solid match in sweeping SCARZ. SCARZ earned the right to face Bleed in the finals after they defeated NAOS Esports, an-all Filipino crew, 2-1 in the semifinals.
Before the semifinals, The Designated Kit Man was able to chat with Jake Sin, Head of Valorant Esports, APAC-Riot Games, on the ongoing VCT Ascension Pacific tournament and plans to make Valorant even bigger in the Philippines.
Sin maintained that the country remains one of the priority markets of Riot Games in the Southeast Asian Region because of the hundreds of thousands or even millions of Filipinos playing Esports including Valorant, a 5 x 5 character-based tactical FPS developed by Riot Games that combines precise gunplay and unique agent abilities.
“The Philippines is the biggest player base in Asia Pacific and that hasn’t really translated very directly to Esports viewership. We definitely want to narrow that gap and because we have been successful in so many markets already and the Philippines also has that potential to succeed with our Esports,” Sin said.
Sin added that a good show by Filipino teams such as NAOS Esports in the VCT Ascension Playoffs will certainly bring more attention and interest to Valorant in the country.
“So we have two Filipino teams in the Pacific and if either one of them makes it to the Masters or Champions, I think that would be huge. I think that’s going to be a strong stimulus for Filipinos to rally around their teams and feel that national pride. Filipino teams doing well globally against other regional teams will result in a big spike in the region. We are very much looking forward to that,” Sin explained.
He also added that aside from this, they are also planning to be more active in the Philippines in the coming days.
“We also want to have more physical interactions in the Philippines. I think having an offline event there and meeting the fans in person will have a big impact and that’s what we want to see,” he said.
Since its introduction in 2020, Valorant has enjoyed a growing following not only in Southeast Asia but all over the world. There has been a steady growth in the game in its many markets fueled by constant development of new content. This can be seen in the quality of teams competing in the VCT Ascension Pacific.
“It has been super competitive and super cutthroat. There is so much talent. So much strategy and team play that’s why we saw a lot of these group stage matches come close,” Sin said.
While he is relishing the development of Valorant and Esports in general despite the pandemic, Sin is also enjoying a new but a very much welcome development in his personal life. From a super gamer, Sin is now a super dad to his five month old twins – a boy and a girl – his version of an “ace” in Valorant.
He says he never thought that there was a need to balance his life which he initially spent most of it on work, until now.
“I am almost forced to create a distance between work and life but it helped me to separate, to contain my work part of self and then really be dedicated to my family. Spending time on my family has been super helpful to my mental health,” Sin added.
Going back to Valorant, Sin says they are doing everything to make Esport, and other games, more accessible to everyone, especially to new players. This is one of the reasons why they are kicking off Premier as the entry point to Esports. He believes Premier will play a big role in the coming days.
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Seven days from now the Philippine Women’s National Football Team or the Filipinas will play their first-ever game in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup against Switzerland in Dunedin, New Zealand. The Philippine Football Federation has released the 23-woman lineup that will compete against the very best from all over the world.
Please include the Filipinas in your prayers and let us rally behind the team in this historic campaign.
Laban, Filipinas!
My nephew, Jacob Marcus Puno Navarro and his Aspire Football Academy mates ended their campaign in the 2023 Pyrenees Cup with a 2-1 breakthrough win against Juventus AC Mataró of Spain thus becoming the first-ever team from the Philippines to record a win in the tournament.
It was a remarkable achievement considering that the young Pinoy side lost its goal keeper due to an injury he sustained during a scrimmage three days before the actual tournament. Jacob and his teammates had to scramble to train a replacement goalie among themselves just to compete in the Pyrenees Cup. The team lost its first four games against Spanish teams RSD Alcala A, Blanca Subur, C.F. Puigcerda and Play Easy before ending their campaign with a bang.
Keep pushing and moving forward, Jacob!
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In case you are free today until Sunday (July 14-16), you may want to take part in the 1st PNP Press Corps (PNPPC) 2023 Invitational Shootfest at the QCPD shooting range at Camp Karingal in Sikatuna Village, Quezon City. It is a Level 1 Philippine Practical Shooting Association sanctioned match with five stages and 120 rounds for handguns and Pistol Caliber Carbine. Aside from promoting the self-defense capability of its members, the first-ever PNPPC shootfest will also serve as a fundraising event for emergency financial assistance for its members in cases of harassment and attacks. For more details, please send queries to the PNP Press Corps Secretariat at [email protected] or call 0928 508 1296.
On a personal note, congratulations to my good friend and Bedan brother Jocel De Guzman for his pet project Scam Watch Pilipinas. Barring any unfortunate event, Scam Watch Pilipinas will become the national citizen arm against cyber fraud by the government beginning today.
It’s about time that something concrete and real should be done against these scammers and their enablers, who are only good at giving out press releases but leave their customers to hang and dry when they get victimized by these criminals. Keep up the good fight, Jokel!
Stay safe. Stay happy peeps!
For comments or questions, you can reach The Designated Kit Man at [email protected] or follow his account at Twitter: @erelcabatbat