 June 10, 2005 – Xian is the historic capital of China. Known as the Eternal City, Xian of the Shaanxi province has seen thousands of years of history filled with ancient battles. On June 3rd,
nearly 100 gamers from 16 nations traveled thousands of miles to Xian for another epic conflict. The battleground was the
ACON5 Global Finals. Their purpose was to become the ACON5 World Champion. After two grueling days of combat,
Virtus Pro from Russia emerged victorious and became the
ACON5 Counter-Strike Champions, while WE.Sky bested the competition to claim the
ACON5 Warcraft III Championship.
ACON5 kicked off in grand fashion with a traditional Chinese flag and drum ceremony. Used in ancient times to rally troops, the beating drums and flailing flags set the tone for the grand battle at hand. A martial arts demonstration wowed the 1000+ onlookers with nearly inhuman grace and skill. After the spectacle was complete, it was time for the players to take their positions on the battlefield.
The Counter-Strike tournament was filled with exciting matchups and more than a fair share of upsets. Teams battled back and forth with the folks from
Team Sportscast Network calling the play-by-play. In the end, Russian powerhouse
Virtus Pro managed to take the ACON5 Counter-Strike Championship over French team
Bizonours in a nail-biting
16-13 matchup.
Defuse Kids from Belgium had to settle for third place after
Bizonours defeated them in an exciting
double-overtime consolation final match.
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Final Counter-Strike Standings
- Virtus Pro, Russia ($20,000)
- Bizonours, France ($10,000)
- Defuse Kids, Belgium ($5,000)
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The Warcraft III electrified the home crowd as one of their own,
Xiaofeng "WE.Sky" Li from China, was one of the early favorites to take the title. With the support from over 600 avid Chinese fans, it was none other than WE.Sky who defeated Korean Sung-Sik
"WE.Remind" Kim in a best-of-two matchup. WE.Sky actually battled back from the Losers Bracket and defeat WE.Remind two games in a row! Russian gamer and ACON4 runner up
Andrey "SK.apm70" Sobolev managed to take third place.
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Final Warcraft III Standings
- WE.Sky, China ($8,000)
- WE.Remind, Korea ($5,000)
- SK.apm70, Russia ($2,000)
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With the games completed, spectators, gamers, and international media were treated with a
Shaanxi Drum Dance, performed by the renowned official drum troupe of the Shaanxi province – a fantastic closing ceremony that brought the spirit of the Shaanxi province to everyone in attendance. Afterwards, the trophies and award checks were awarded to the winners, much to the delight of the crowd.
Following the closing ceremonies, the gamers and sponsors continued the festivities with a very entertaining celebratory dinner at a famous Xian dumpling restaurant. The next day, Gamers and media were treated to a city tour the following day to visit Xian's legendary Terra Cotta Warriors.
"ACON5 was one of the most exciting and well-executed gaming tournaments in recent memory," noted ATI Senior Marketing Manager Ian McNaughton.
"ATI is proud to be a part of this great event, and is committed to supporting the gaming community with initiatives like ACON5."
"Intel is proud to help sponsor ABIT's ACON5 worldwide gaming tournament. Intel delivers advanced PC technology to meet the gaming community's desire for a highly-detailed and fast-paced environment. PC gaming platforms based on the Intel® 955X Express chipset and Intel® Pentium® processor Extreme Edition offer excellent performance for action-packed game play" said Chris Tobias, WW Chipset Marketing Manager, Intel Corporation.
"ACON has once again raised the bar on how a gaming tournament should be held with ACON5," said Corsair Asia Marketing Director Scott Thirlwell.
"As the official memory partner of ACON5, Corsair is proud to sponsor events that affect gamers around the world in a positive way."
"ACON5 was definitely the best one yet," notes ABIT Marketing Director Larry Wu.
"ABIT would like to thank Intel, ATI, Corsair, and LG for their generous support. With sponsors like these that are committed to gaming, and the help of the gaming community, I'm confident that the tournament will continue to grow. See you all at ACON6!"
For more coverage of ACON5, visit the following links:
GotFrag: http://www.gotfrag.com/cs/filters/266/
SK Gaming: http://www.sk-gaming.com/feature/501/1/ (registration required)
TSN Central: http://www.tsncentral.com/display/1256
AmpedNews: http://esports.ampednews.com/?page=articles&id=5240
Inquirer: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23755
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23753
Hexus: http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD0xMjU5
For more information on ACON5, go here: http://www.acon5.com |
