Latest news with #Fnatic
The Star
18 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
E-sports team Paper Rex's triumph at Valorant Masters a major win for Singapore, South-East Asia
(From left) Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza, Khalish "d4v41" Rusyaide, Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie and Ilia 'something' Petrov celebrating with the VCT Masters trophy. - RIOT GAMES SINGAPORE: After a series of near-misses, Singapore-based e-sports team Paper Rex finally ended their wait for a major international trophy. The team of mostly South-East Asian (SEA) players emerged victorious in the grand final of Valorant Masters Toronto, beating the formidable Fnatic 3-1 at the Enercare Centre on June 22 to claim the US$350,000 top prize. London-based team Fnatic, the 2023 Masters winners, had fought their way through the losers' bracket and put up a formidable challenge in the best-of-five final, before losing the tense 4½-hour battle in the popular first-person shooter video game. Wang 'Jinggg' Jing Jie, the only Singaporean player on the Paper Rex roster, could barely contain his delight after securing the long-awaited victory to make up for the disappointment of losing in the grand final of the 2023 Valorant Champions. The Champions tournament is a higher tier than Masters competitions. Said the 21-year-old: 'It's surreal. The feeling is just setting in. I'm proud of myself and my team. I'm happy to be able to represent not just my country but also fly all the flags of our home SEA region.' While Paper Rex are based in Singapore, their players come mainly from around the region. Besides Russian Ilia 'something' Petrov, the other members are Indonesians Aaron 'mindfreak' Leonhart and Jason 'f0rsakeN' Susanto; Malaysian Khalish 'd4v41' Rusyaidee; and Patrick 'PatMen' Mendoza from the Philippines. In the first-round group stage, Paper Rex beat Team Heretics of Spain 2-0 but lost 2-0 to North American side Gen.G Esports. With their campaign on the line, they mustered a 2-1 victory over Team Liquid of the Netherlands to seal one of the four spots in the next round. Pitted against winners from the four international leagues – North and South America; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; the Pacific (Japan, South Korea, and India); and China – in the eight-team, double-elimination play-offs, Paper Rex went unbeaten into the grand final. The won all their best-of-three matches 2-0 – beating North America's G2 Esports, Sentinels of the United States before overcoming Wolves Esports, the e-sports team of English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers. Paper Rex coach Alexandre 'alecks' Salle was filled with 'a sense of relief, mostly'. 'I don't think I could stomach (another) loss,' said Salle, referring to their near misses, including finishing fifth/sixth at the 2024 Valorant Masters Shanghai and third at the Valorant Masters Tokyo in 2023. 'I'm sure it will dawn on me eventually that we've achieved one of our goals.' The 35-year-old Frenchman and Singapore permanent resident paid tribute to the immense support from their fans in the region 'which drives us forward'. Besides the support, he also attributed their victory to 'a holistic approach to player training and development'. Salle said: 'We have a performance coach and watch what we eat. I think we found a balance that worked for us. I think this is a sign that perhaps e-sports is maturing into a professional athletic sport.' Paper Rex chief creative officer Gad Tan added: 'E-sports players by nature sleep late, wake up late, have irregular eating habits (and) don't get fresh air much. The performance coach helps (them) develop a sense of mindfulness about themselves and approach a work day with better energy.' With the trophy in hand, Paper Rex are looking forward to their next assignment – Stage 2 of the Valorant Pacific League in Seoul from July 15 to Aug 31. Their ultimate goal will be to qualify and making a deep run at the Sept 12-Oct 5 Valorant Champions in Paris. - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Paper Rex's triumph at Valorant Masters a major win for Singapore & South-east Asia
(from left) Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza, Khalish "d4v41" Rusyaide, Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie and Ilia 'something' Petrov celebrating with the VCT Masters trophy. PHOTO: RIOT GAMES SINGAPORE – After a series of near-misses, Singapore-based e-sports team Paper Rex finally ended their wait for a major international trophy. The team of mostly South-east Asian (SEA) players emerged victorious in the grand final of Valorant Masters Toronto, beating formidable Fnatic 3-1 at the Enercare Centre on June 23 to claim the US$350,000 (S$448,000) top prize. London-based team Fnatic, the 2023 champions, had fought their way through the losers' bracket and put up a formidable challenge in the best-of-five final before losing the tense 4½-hour battle in the popular first-person shooter video game. Wang 'Jinggg' Jing Jie, th e only Singaporean player on the Paper Rex roster, could barely contain his delight after securing the long-awaited victory to make up for the disappointment of losing in the grand final of the Valorant Champions in 2023. Said the 21-year-old: 'It's surreal. The feeling is just setting in. I'm proud of myself and my team. I'm happy to be able to represent not just my country but also fly all the flags of our home SEA region.' While Paper Rex are based in Singapore, their players come mainly from around the region. Besides Russian Ilia 'something' Petrov, the other members are Indonesians Aaron 'Mindfreak' Leonhart and Jason 'f0rsakeN' Susanto; Malaysian Khalish 'd4v41' Rusyaide; and Patrick 'PatMen' Mendoza from the Philippines. Wang 'Jinggg' Jing Jie (second from left) is the only Singaporean player on Paper Rex's roster. PHOTO: RIOT GAMES In the first-round group stage, Paper Rex beat Team Heretics of Spain 2-0 but lost 2-0 to North American side Gen.G Esports. With their campaign on the line, they mustered a 2-1 victory over Team Liquid of the Netherlands to seal one of the four spots in the next round. Pitted against winners from the four international leagues – North and South America; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; the Pacific (Japan, Korea, and India); and China – in the eight-team, double-elimination play-offs, Paper Rex went unbeaten into the grand final. The won all their best-of-three matches 2-0 – beating North America's G2 Esports, Sentinels of the United States before overcoming Wolves Esports, the e-sports team of English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers. Paper Rex coach Alexandre 'Alecks' Salle was filled with 'a sense of relief mostly'. 'I don't think I could stomach (another) loss,' said Salle, referring to their near misses, including finishing fifth/sixth at the 2 024 Valorant Masters Shanghai and third at the Valorant Masters Tokyo in 2023. 'I'm sure it will dawn on me eventually that we've achieved one of our goals.' The 35-year-old Singapore permanent resident paid tribute to the immense support from their fans in the region, 'which drives us forward'. Besides the support, he also attributed their victory to 'a holistic approach to player training and development'. Salle said: 'We have a performance coach and watch what we eat. I think we found a balance that worked for us. I think this is a sign that perhaps e-sports is maturing into a professional athletic sport.' Paper Rex chief creative officer Gad Tan added, saying: 'E-sports players by nature sleep late, wake up late, have irregular eating habits (and) don't get fresh air much. 'The performance coach helps (them) develop a sense of mindfulness about themselves and approach a work day with better energy.' With the trophy in hand, Paper Rex are looking forward to their next assignment – Stage 2 of the Valorant Pacific League in Seoul from July 15 to Aug 31 . Their ultimate goal will be to qualify and making a deep run at the Sept 12-Oct 5 Valo rant Champions in Paris . Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Geek Culture
2 days ago
- Sport
- Geek Culture
Valorant Masters Toronto: Singapore-Based Paper Rex Makes History With Republic's First Win
Third time's the charm for Paper Rex. The Singapore-based esports team has walked away as the champions of Valorant Masters Toronto, clinching not only their first international title but also the Republic's first-ever win at the event. For Copenhagen and Los Angeles. Third time's the charm. #VALORANTMasters — Paper Rex (@pprxteam) June 22, 2025 The latest victory follows two previous unsuccessful attempts at the Masters Copenhagen and Champions Los Angeles tournaments held in 2022 and 2023, respectively, which saw Paper Rex come in as the first runner-up. It wasn't all smooth sailing, however, as the third seed from the Pacific region almost didn't make it to this year's Masters with back-to-back defeats in the group stages, only finding their stride in the play-ins and play-offs. Once there, the newly minted champions eliminated tournament favourites G2 Esports, another top-seed from the American region, Sentiels, and dark horse Wolves Esports to secure a face-off against Fnatic in the grand finals on 23 June. The latter team, meanwhile, entered Masters Toronto as the top seed from the EMEA region, losing 1-2 to Gen.G Esports before staging a comeback against Rex Regum Qeon, Sentinels, G2 Esports, and Wolves Esports. Alas, the crown would go to Paper Rex, who bested their opponents 3-1 and took home US$350,000. The team also scored seven VCT points, bringing their current total to 11 points — and to the top of the Pacific Championship, ahead of South Korean teams T1 (10 points) and Gen.G (nine points). As for Fnatic, its players earned US$200,000 as consolation but remain the leader of their region. Rounding out the celebration is the announcement of Jason 'f0rsakeN' Susanto as MVP of the tournament, with the full Paper Rex roster as follows: Jason 'f0rsakeN' Susanto (Indonesia) Jing Jie 'Jinggg' Wang (Singapore) Ahmad Khalish Rusyaidee 'd4v41' Bin Nordin (Malaysia) Ilya 'Something' Petrov (Russia) Patrick 'PatMen' Mendoza (Philippines) Aaron 'mindfreak.' Leonhart (Indonesia) Paper Rex's victory marks the third consecutive title won by a Pacific team after Gen.G Esports and T1, who emerged as the respective champions in 2024's Masters Shanghai and Masters Bangkok held earlier this year. Next on the list is Stage 2 of the International League, kicking off on 3 July, and culminating in the biggest event for Valorant : Champions, taking place in Paris, France, from 12 September to 5 October. A hearty congratulations to Paper Rex! Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth's theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia's greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really. Paper Rex Riot Games Singapore Valorant Valorant Masters Toronto
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
'I didn't plan to cry, but the tears just came out'
KUALA LUMPUR: The Kelantan-born Ahmad Khalish Rusyaidee "d4v41" Nordin and his Paper Rex (PRX) teammates emotionally won the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Masters Toronto title on Sunday. There were tears after PRX defeated European giants Fnatic 3-1 in the Grand Finals at the Enercare Centre in Toronto, Canada to claim their maiden international crown. Khalish's team also comprised Indonesian Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto, Singaporean Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie, Russian Ilia "something" Petrov and Filipino Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza. The 26-year-old Khalish and his teammates took home US$350,000 (RM1.49 million) in prize money. Khalish ranked as the Singapore-based PRX team's second best performer with a 1.12 KDA. PRX, who had lost two Grand Finals previously — in the Masters Copenhagen in 2022 and Champions Los Angeles in 2023, went into the Toronto finals after a dominant upper bracket run in the playoffs. Fnatic, the Masters Tokyo 2023 champions and top seeds, however, posed a formidable challenge. PRX began with a 13-11 win on the map pick of Sunset, but Fnatic hit back with a narrow 17-15 win on their pick of Icebox. PRX then pulled ahead 2-1 with a 13-10 victory on their pick of Pearl before confirming the title with a 14-12 win in overtime on Fnatic's pick of Lotus. The PRX team became emotional after finally breaking their title drought. "This victory feels unreal, we've been working very hard for this," said Khalish in a post-match interview before breaking into tears. "This means everything. Winning an international trophy has always been the goal. We want to be champions, and this is just the beginning," he added after regaining his composure. "I'm really happy... I didn't plan to cry, but the tears just came out." PRX will next compete in the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from July 8-13 which offers US$1.25 million in prize money. Meanwhile, there will be no Malaysian representation in PUBG Mobile at the EWC after Alliance (seventh) and SEM9 (12th) failed to finish in the top three at the Southeast Asia Summer PUBG Mobile Super League in Jakarta on Sunday.
Forbes
30-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How The Esports World Cup Club Partner Program Is Supporting Orgs
The Esports World Cup is about to hand out a lot of cash to teams. The Esports World Cup Club Partner Program is one of the biggest opportunities for esports organisations around the world in the current industry landscape. With VC funding significantly drying up, and sponsor interest generally dropping over the last few years, many esports organisations have struggled to keep money coming in at the required rate to meet the high costs of the industry. Meaning, programs that offer the organisations themselves the chance to make money directly from tournaments, rather than splitting prize money with players, have become more important than ever. The EWC Club Partner Program does exactly that, offering significant financial support to clubs that can help spread the word of the tournament, create content around it and, hopefully, perform well when everything kicks off in Riyadh this summer. The top eight clubs from the Esports World Cup 2024, along with 32 others chosen through an application process, have been selected for the 2025 Club Partner Program, and now their journey to the Esports World Cup really kicks off. 'In 2025, we wanted to build a partnership that, instead of providing competition-related funding, places a dedicated focus on engaging global fans and helping Clubs grow their communities,' said Hans Jagnow, Director of Team and Player Relations at the Esports World Cup Foundation. 'It's all about putting fans at the center, connecting them with the EWC storylines of their favorite Clubs and players, and enabling them to expand their brands through these opportunities. Last but not least, we have more Clubs while maintaining a strong funding level, setting the partnership up for overall growth with our investment.' For the 40 teams that have made it into the program, they are now guaranteed six figure payouts, providing they meet the requirements of the program, and potentially up to $1 million should their campaigns around the EWC perform particularly well. This isn't related to competitive performance at all, all partner teams still have to qualify like any other squad for all of the tournaments at EWC, but the better their campaigns around the event, the bigger the payout they could end up with. 'It's encouraging to see the esports ecosystem evolving to offer more ways for teams to move towards sustainability,' said Sam Mathews, CEO and Founder of Fnatic. 'Unlike traditional sports like football [soccer] Having this extra stream of income has already proven useful for teams that were part of the program last year, allowing them to invest in more areas and benefit both staff and fans. Newcomers to the program this year are already making plans on how this new income stream can help their organisation, and looking at how it could also provide them with competitive advantages for the 2026 Esports World Cup when it comes to signing new teams. 'Esports is a rapidly growing industry, but it is also highly competitive and resource-intensive,' said Claire Teng, General Manager at Wolves Esports, a newcomer to the program. 'The financial support from the Program will enable us to make strategic investments in our players, infrastructure and long-term growth. These funds will help us cover essential operational costs, enhance training facilities, and potentially expand into new projects or regions. We believe this will strengthen the club and help us to further promote the Esports World Cup global influence in the esports ecosystem. 'Our second place finish at the inaugural EWC Club Championship was a big part of a very successful 2024 for our organization,' added Victor Goossens, Founder & Co-CEO, Team Liquid. 'Our competitive achievements during the year allowed us to expand into new games like chess, and contributed to our goal of becoming a sustainable company in esports. The participation in the Club Program helps Team Liquid on our path to be a stable long-term and sustainable organization in esports. The way the event and its various initiatives are being structured are thoughtful and aligned with how to build sports ecosystems. It rewards not only competitive results, but also has a mix of important long-term elements such as team branding, fandom, marketing and engagement.' A focus for the 2025 Club Parter Program was making it as international as possible, giving organisations from underrepresented regions a chance to join as well. For the EWCF this means a chance to engage a wider audience and bring more eyes to the tournament, an obvious win for them, but for organisations from those regions it offers a rare chance to make some serious cash, and a chance for them to establish themselves alongside the big international orgs. 'Being selected as an Esports World Cup Foundation Club Partner is a statement to the world, it is a reward for years of relentless hard work and a milestone for Indian esports,' said Animesh Agarwal, CEO and Co-Founder of Indian organisation S8UL. 'It gives us the opportunity to represent India at the highest level, to create content that shapes the gaming landscape, and to contribute to the evolving global esports community. Most importantly, it's a chance to do what we love, play, compete, and push the boundaries of esports.' For the organisations that have made it into the program for 2025, this is a major opportunity. They can bring in some significant cash as well as work with other teams from other regions to boost their followings and hopefully reach new audiences. And that's all before they even start thinking about their competitive performance at the event. But for those that didn't make it in, and there are a lot, it's not game over yet. Membership for the program is reviewed every year, with new teams given the opportunity to join, and that should help spread the wealth a little as the program continues to evolve. 'With only 40 slots for more than 200 applicants, there is an uncomfortable but basic truth: you make 40 clubs happy, but 160 will be disappointed that they didn't make it through the highly competitive process and might disagree with the result,' said Jagnow. 'We provided extensive feedback to each Club on how they can improve their application, and since we allow annual reapplications, the next opportunity will come in 2026. This gives a full season to make a strong impression at EWC25 and beyond, showcasing their competitiveness, creativity, and ability to engage fans.' But for now, the teams that have made it in will be focused on preparing their campaigns for the Esports World Cup, making the most of the opportunity in front of them. The hope is that this year there will be a lot more content from the teams themselves around the event, which should hopefully give fans even more things to engage with and only increase their enjoyment of the event. The fact that it will also financially support the clubs involved, is just another positive for everyone involved.
