RIYADH: The Esports World Cup's “Super Sunday” in Riyadh had three champions crowned, with the KPL Dream Team taking the “Honor of Kings Invitational Series 2024 Midseason”, Alliance competition “Apex Legends” and Team BDS “Rainbow Six Siege” competition.
The world's largest gaming and esports festival, which has a record prize pool of $60 million, had $7 million presented to the competitors at Boulevard Riyadh City.
The KPL Dream Team claimed $1 million with an astonishing 'Honor of Kings' feat – going through the entire tournament without losing a single round. The Chinese stars swept LGD Gaming MY 3-0 in the finals.
Gemini, whose real name is Jia Yi, the coach of the KPL Dream Team, said: “It's because of the teamwork. We have good techniques and we worked hard for this event. It's been a long time since we played this game. So here we can take this event. I would like to thank our fans. They came all the way from China to support us. It's been great to play here.”
However, the story of the day was the “Rainbow Six Siege” where Team BDS followed up their successes in 2022 and 2023 at Gamers8, organized by the Saudi Esports Federation. Not only did they make gaming history, but they did so by sweeping w7m esports 3-0 in the finals.
Team BDS analyst eaglemees, real name Mees van der Arend, said: “We are all very excited to be Gamers8 and Esports World Cup back-to-back-to-back champions. I don't think there are any teams that have been able to do this and make history. We are excited. Now we will take some time to relax and then focus on our next tournament.”
The Swiss/French organization earned $750,000 for their tournament-winning exploits. In the “Apex Legends” tournament at the SEF Arena on Boulevard Riyadh City, Alliance took home the top prize of $600,000 in sensational style. The Swedish side took on hometown heroes Team Falcons for the title.
Alliance star Hakis, whose real name is John Hakansson, said: “It feels amazing. It's still a bit surreal – after 14 games of 'Apex Legends' you're kind of brain-boiled. Overall, I'm pretty empty and super, super tired but super happy and super excited . It still feels surreal.”
Hakis added: “I think the most pleasing thing for us was definitely getting revenge. We had the chance to win the whole tournament in the game before 14 and we had to go again. To win the next game felt great. This is probably one of the closest tournaments we've ever played.
“The Falcons played great. They're definitely a well-respected team and one of the most successful in the entire game. Personally, I think it's fun when the fans cheer for the Falcons. They're so passionate. We joked to ourselves in the middle of the game, saying, ” Let's go, Falcons!' They're pretty special and that's what it is.”
The Esports World Cup, which began on July 3 and runs until August 25, features 22 global competitions in 21 leading games.
