RIYADH: Gaimin Gladiators celebrated a deserved “Dota 2 Riyadh Masters” triumph on Sunday night at the Esports World Cup after whitewashing Team Liquid 3-0 in the final.
After nearly two weeks of “Dota 2 Riyadh Masters” competition at Boulevard Riyadh City, Gaimin Gladiators took the lion’s share of the $5 million tournament prize pool — earning a cool $1.5 million.
Team Liquid claimed $800,000 for finishing second, and Saudi Arabia side Team Falcons earned $600,000 for coming third.
Gaimin Gladiators had qualified for the Grand Final after defeating Team Liquid 2-0 in the Upper Bracket Final earlier on Sunday.
Team Liquid then earned a rematch after beating Team Falcons 2-0 in the Lower Bracket Final — but to no avail as the Canadian club brought their A-game when it mattered most.
Speaking at the post-final press conference, Quinn, Gaimin Gladiators’ Solo Middle player, said: “I think it’s nice to prove to ourselves that we can grind from the bottom back up to the top again.
“We had a tough year with some issues, so just to grind back up to the top was nice. It’s cool, it’s satisfying.”
Coach Cy added: “We want to always be the best. We try to be the best. As long as we’re together in this roster we should be aligned with that idea. It’s okay if we don’t achieve that but we have to put in the work to try and achieve that.”
tOfu, the Support player for Gaimin Gladiators, praised the organization at Boulevard Riyadh City for the Esports World Cup. “Everything went super smoothly.”
The Gaimin Gladiators’ lineup consists of: Coach Cy (Aske Larsen, Denmark), dyrachyo (Anton Shkredov, Russia), Quinn (Quinn Callahan, US), Ace (Marcus Hoelgaard, Denmark), tOfu (Erik Engel, Germany), and Seleri (Melchior Hillenkamp, Netherlands).
The “Dota 2 Riyadh Masters” was just one of the many incredible tournaments at the eight-week long Esports World Cup.
The world event features a unique cross-game structure pitting the top clubs and players against one another across 22 global competitions in 21 leading games.
Held at the 8,000-capacity SEF Arena at Boulevard Riyadh City, the event runs until Aug. 25, and has a tournament prize pool of $60 million, the largest in the history of esports.
More than 1,500 players, of over 60 nationalities, are participating at the Esports World Cup.
As well as the “Dota 2 Riyadh Masters,” week three of the competition featured elite action in “Counter Strike 2” and “PUBG Mobile” contests.
