Noob Alliance’s team “nA Neverstop”, representing the Monaragala District, won the inaugural edition of the Dialog-SLESA All-Island Free Fire Championship, a districtwide national Esports tournament, held recently.
The tourney, which brought together top Esports talent to compete for a massive Rs. 1 million prize pool, was held over four months of intense online gaming powered by Dialog Axiata and organised by the Sri Lanka Esports Association (SLESA).
The championship had over 2,000 Sri Lankan Free Fire players taking part across a gruelling qualifier stage where teams had to earn their right to represent their district by making their way through a group stage, semifinals, and a district final. The teams that made it through the district final then took part in the all-island semifinal round, after which the top 12 teams qualified through to the all-important, two-day grand finals. The 12 teams that qualified were; Ampara (Ae-S SLR Ghost), Monaragala (nA Neverstop), Batticaloa (nA Archangels A), Anuradhapura (WG Infinity Endgame), Kandy (nA Negu SL), Kalutara (Fake Hawk), Nuwara Eliya (RK Triple-XR), Jaffna (Me-S Mostwanted Ellite), Galle (Me-S Brotherhood), Trincomalee (Me-S Brain Deadz), Colombo (4 Questions), and Kilinochchi (Justice X).
Team nA Neverstop, representing the Monaragala District, kept a dominant performance throughout the tournament and eventually secured the championship with a 44-point lead over Wolf Gang’s Infinity Endgame representing Anuradhapura who came in second with 181 points. Team Ae-S SLR Ghost from Ampara came in third with 156 points.
With 40 eliminations through the two-day grand finals, Thilina “Jester” Perera from Wolf Gang’s Infinity Endgame (Anuradhapura) stood out with his performance and became the MVP of the finals. With many top performances throughout the tournament, Semin “BOH xDream” Thamash from team Me-S Brotherhood (Galle) became the top performer with 114 eliminations to his name.
“We set out to take Esports to every corner of the country with this district-level event, and we’re happy to see the response it received. Over 2,000 youths participated in structured Esports – a sport that is now included at the highest levels of international sports. We’re confident that a sustained upskilling effort will see Sri Lankan esports athletes bringing home gold, silver, and bronze medals in the near future,” said Sri Lanka Esports Association President and Gamer.LK CEO Raveen Wijayatilake.
SLESA was founded in 2010 by Gamer.LK along with four founding members and has continued to pave the way for the sport to grow in the country in a systematic manner, which has even been recognised internationally. The championship was strategically supported by SLESA strategic partner Gamer.LK along with the endorsement of the game publisher Garena.
Dialog Axiata is the proud sponsor of the Sri Lanka national cricket, volleyball, netball, and Esports teams. The company also has a close association with the President’s Gold Cup Volleyball, national junior and senior netball tourneys, schools’ rugby, and paralympic sports – by powering the Army para games, national para games, and the Sri Lankan contingent to the World Paralympic Games.