If you weren’t at the CyberGames Eid al- Fitr showdown at YabaTech, well you missed a whole lot. The gameplay intensified from the group stages of the event as competitors finished up group stage play, grinded out the knockout stage and only a few remained to slug it out in the quarterfinals to earn a seat in the semifinals and finals.
The YabaTech Alumni hall was filled with smiley faces and a great ambience of good music to get the gamers pumped! Not long after, those smiles gradually faded and transformed into serious driven faces ready to win NGN ₦210,000.00 and 500 leaderboard points.
GROUP STAGE
The event started off with a total of 48 gamers, who were placed in 8 groups through a ballot system. Each group consisted of 4 players who played against each other with the top 2 players in each group progressing to the round of 33 alongside 8 best losers from all the group.
KNOCKOUT STAGE
The round of 32 came with a tight contest with debutants and underdogs causing apprehension for the top gamers. All the top gamers still came out top in the very tight affair at YabaTech.
ROUND OF 16
The final 16 players grabbed their pads to get quarterfinals tickets and win at least NGN ₦10,000.00 and 150 points on the leaderboard.
Lord Tricto and Reeves were all out to surprise everyone by beating Joseph and Mayowa to book their quarterfinals spot. Top-ranked gamers such as Imaji Boy, Adefola 09, Ginchi and Joga who were favourites in their fixtures qualified with big wins.
QUARTERFINALS
After a very exhilarating round of 32 and 16, the quarterfinals showdown started and it was no easy path for anyone even the top gamers as the battle to make it into the semifinals got harder.
Adefola 09 knocked out Reeves, Chinonso’s effort wasn’t enough as he lost to Imaji Boy, Ginchi made his way into the semifinals after a slim win over Ifeanyi and Debutant Lord Tricto staged an upset by beating 4th ranked Joga to make it to the Semifinals.
Semifinals
The semifinals was a much different affair involving all top three CyberGamers except Lord Tricto who rode a wave of confidence into his match against 2nd ranked Ginchi. On the other end of the bracket, it was a contest between Nigeria’s number one, Imaji Boy and third-ranked, Adefola09.
Debutant, Lord Tricto had a handful of surprising results before his eventual defeat by Ginchi who relegated him to a third-place final. Adefola’s magical run finally came to an end in the semifinals where he lost to Imaji boy.
Third Place: Adefola09 V Lord Tricto
After Adefola’s tricky defeat to Imaji and Lord Tricto’s impressive run cut short by Ginchi, both players had to battle for 3rd place. The tense affair ended 4 -2 with 3rd ranked Adefola coming out on top to secure the third position.
Final: Imaji Boy V Ginchi
It all came down to this, CyberGames heavyweights Imaji Boy and Ginchi had themselves a great day by getting into the finals of the Eid al-Fitr Showdown at YabaTech. The highly rated players faced-off in a keenly contested match with the grand prize of NGN ₦75,000.00 and 500 leaderboard points for the winner.
History maker, Imaji boy claimed his 4th CyberGames title in a row as he beats Ginchi 2 – 1 to retain his crown. Imaji’s lethal showing and consistency in CyberGames tournament have earned him Nigeria’s number one EASPORT FIFA Player.
Ginchi had a fantastic tournament himself, he takes home NGN ₦45,000.00 and 350 leaderboard points. His impressive string of performances at CyberGames tournaments keeps him at 2nd position on the leaderboard.
Fela is the Co-founder of MediaVision Limited .
