Were it not for a rising star of Asia’s rapidly expanding eSports community, Macau could well have been celebrating a breakthrough win last weekend with five representatives taking part in a qualifying tournament in Hong Kong for December’s prestigious Shanghai U-League 3.
Playing popular fighting game Street Fighter V, it was Hong Kong’s Chris Wong instead raising eyebrows on his way to victory and a place in the elite Shanghai field next month. A complete unknown just two months ago, Wong stunned everyone in October when he emerged from nowhere to finish runner-up in the Capcom Pro Tour Online Asia tournament – a qualifier to the season-ending Capcom Cup boasting Asia’s best Street Fighter V exponents.
Now he has gone one better, booking his spot in the Shanghai U-League by beating world number 13 “Tse4444” in last weekend’s final. The result reportedly rattled “Tse4444”, who ended the match with a “rage quit” – the gamer’s version of a dummy spit whereby they break the connection with their competitor by ripping out cables or unplugging the power line.
Macau’s top ranked player “Nikusan” lived up to his billing by progressing to Round 4 before running into Wong, while an all-Macau match-up saw “Nikusan” eliminate “HugoMachine” in Round 3.
Macau sent a team to the World Championships for the very first time in 2016 and was also voted in as a full member of the International eSports Federation.
