03-Jun-2022 Intellasia |
Vietnamnet |
5:02 AM
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At SEA Games 31, held in Vietnam, eSports for the second time became a sport for official competition.
According to the organising board, 485 athletes from 10 countries competed in 8 games, and 10 competition contents with 10 sets of medals. In total, 101 group stage matches and 140 final round matches took place for nearly 2 weeks. The matches were ruled by 70 international referees.
Nguyen Xuan Cuong, chair of the Vietnam Recreational and Electronic Sport Association (VIRESA), said to serve eSports competitions, the national conventional centre had to work at 100 percent capacity with five spaces for competitions at the same time. Some arenas were praised met Olympic standards, some athletes said.
According to Cuong, in order to gain success, the leaders of the Vietnam Sports Administration, VIRESA and technology firms including Garena, VNG, VTC, VNPT and Viettel coordinated teamwork very well.
eSports matches at SEA Games 31 was transmitted to Southeast Asian audiences with commentary in English.
Preliminary statistics show a very high number of people watching eSports competitions. In some countries, the number of viewers of eSports competitions were even higher than football matches.
Low Yen Ling, Singapore’s minister of State for the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), praised the organisation work of the host country.
Present in Vietnam to cheer Thai eSports national team to compete at SEA Games 31, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, the digital economy and society minister, said eSports is not just a sport, but also creates a new occupation and helps promote digital economy.
“The sport will create a new development opportunity if we promote it in the right way and keep up with changes,” he said.
At SEA Games 31, Vietnam ranks first in eSports, with four gold and three silver medals.
According to Cuong of VIRENA, the games will help in the selection and training of athletes for the next tournaments, including ASIAD 2022 and SEA Games 2023.
The success in organising eSports matches at SEA Games 31 also helped change the society’s perception about eSports.
Cuong hopes that after SEA Games 31, young people will have more understanding about eSports. They will realise that becoming professional athletes is not a rosy path. This will help them make reasonable choices to balance study, work and entertainment, striving for a good life.
“This is also the final purpose of all sports,” he said.
https://vietnamnet.vn/en/vietnam-esports-see-bright-future-after-sea-games-31-2025695.html
Category: Business, Vietnam
Article source: https://www.intellasia.net/vietnam-esports-see-bright-future-after-sea-games-31-1056770
