Peh “BlitzRooney” Hang Wei caused a major upset last Sunday when he dispatched reigning WCG Singapore FIFA champion Mohamed “Xtr3me3” Phirkhan in two straight games in the finals of the Electronic Sports World Cup Asia Masters of Cheonan FIFA Online 2 Singapore qualifiers.
Editor’s note: BlitzRooney and Xtr3me3 are both now in South Korea representing Singapore at the ESWC Asia Masters. GameSync apologizes to our readers for the late posting of this news item.
The first match of the finals saw BlitzRooney, playing FC Porto, trade goals with his opponent until half-time. Peh managed to find the net three more times thereafter and Phirkhan, who was using Rangers to aid him in his campaign, missed a crucial chance to come back in the 89th minute. The first round ended in 5-4 score line.
Although Phirkhan scored first in round two, he was not able to attack or defend as effectively and the match, with a score of 5-3, saw the trip to Korea slip away from him.
Peh’s victory will see him sponsored by IAHGames, the operator of FIFA Online 2, to represent Singapore at the ESWC Asia Masters.
“I cannot believe that I have beaten Phirkhan and am going to represent Singapore at ESWC. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and I hope I will do Singapore proud in Korea. The standards there will be very high and it will be interesting to see how I fair against the world’s top players,” said Peh after the match.
Phirkhan told GameSync that a single mistake caused him to lose his focus, and as a result, the game: “I was controlling the game. Then when I got one open goal I pressed the wrong button and chipped the ball instead of just shooting normally. The ball never went in, otherwise it could have been 4-2 changed the whole game.”
“Then [Peh] countered and just scored and I was there just cursing away. It was damm demoralising,” Phirkhan continued. “After he won the first game, confidence was with him. That one important miss caused me everything.”
Luckily for Phirkhan, IAHgames later decided to sponsor him, as the first runner-up of the Singapore Selection, to participate in the ESWC Asia Masters as well.
The ESWC Asia Masters will be held from 2 to 5 May and include 16 national representatives from Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. Peh and Phirkhan will be competing for a share of the total prize purse of US$12,000 (S$17,800) at the international event.
You can view match replays and read interviews with Peh and Phirkhan at the FIFA Online 2 website.
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