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| The e-Gilas team are becoming new major players in the local professional gaming scene after dominating the Southeast Asia Conferences of FIBA eSports Open I and III. (Image Source: Adobo Magazine/Samahang Basketbol Ng Pilipinas) |
The Philippines literally made a strong statement in the world of professional gaming, simply known as eSports, when the e-Gilas team dominated FIBA eSports Open III in April following its debut crown in the first FIBA eSports Open. The team composed of Rial Polog, Philippe Herrero IV, Aljon Cruzin, Custer Galas, Ian Santiago, Arnie Sison, and Clark Banzon bested sixty representative teams from Vietnam, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Mongolia in online basketball action to emerge victorious in the online basketball tournament's Southeast Asia Conference which eventually serves as its comeback after losing the finals to Australia in FIBA eSports Open II.
Its trubitastic impact in eSports began with the community that helped propel the eSports athletes to their continuing success, and that happens to be the Veterans League group on Facebook which is an online hangout for fans and players of the NBA 2K series according to E-Gilas team leader Rial Polog who was the first Filipino to become draft-eligible in the NBA 2K League. In 2015, Laus Group Of Companies president Paul Laus saw the potential of nurturing eSports even in its early stages and eventually decided to hold a tournament among members of the Veterans League Facebook group as a way to foster ties and develop talent considering that there were no formal events of its kind in the Philippines back then.
The Laus Group Of Companies, simply known as LausGroup, is a Pampanga-based diversified conglomerate whose main interests lie in the automotive business. It is the owner of Carworld, Central Luzon's leading dealer of Mitsubishi vehicles, and has 65 dealerships that operate in North Luzon, Central Luzon and Metro Manila carrying the likes of Ford, Hyundai, Mazda, Nissan, Suzuki, BMW, Volkswagen, MINI and Peugeot. The group also has interests in insurance, construction, media, food and hospitality industries. LausGroup's venture into professional gaming is in line with its vision of bringing development to the countryside, given the industry's ability to provide players the opportunity to showcase their skills regardless of where they come from.
Highly regarded as the premiere online basketball tournament in the Philippines playing in the Pro-Am format, the LausGroup NBA 2K Tournament has been widely participated by over 2,500 players comprising 24 teams with 15 playing as professionals from its lineup of 15 when it was initiated. This unique ecosystem of support has pushed the tournaments to produce professional gamers dedicated to honing and perfecting their skills and strategies for upcoming NBA 2K tournaments through discipline, dedication and athleticism usually found in traditional sports. With the E-Gilas' recent triumph as a product of its dedication to the craft and overwhelming support from the LausGroup and the Veterans League Facebook group, the increasing recognition gained by Filipino eSports players as well as their trubitastic impact can only spell brighter days ahead despite the struggles and challenges the country and the world are facing.
