KUALA LUMPUR: Local esports fans well aware that an all Malaysian team, Fnatic has been invited to participate in The International 2015 Dota 2 Championship (TI5), an event offering over US$17 million in terms of prize pool.
To delight local viewers, Astro has announced that it will provide live broadcast of the event which will take place from today to 9 August, 2015 on Astro SuperSports Plus (Channel 808) and Astro on the Go.
Fans now have the chance to enjoy 8 hours of live matches daily, replays and exclusive content on the channel as well as on multiple devices anytime, anywhere with Astro on the Go. Apart from live coverage, Astro SuperSport Plus will also produce behind the scene views and follow the progress of Team Fnatic.
Fnatic, a team that goes by the name of Team Malaysia prior to being acquired by the UK-based esports organisation is led by Chai Yee Fung who goes by the screen name Mushi. The rest of the team line-up includes Lee Kang Yang (kYxY), Fadil Mohd Raziff (Kecik Imba), Khoo Chong Xin (Ohaiyo) and Lee Siong Tait (Johnny).
In an interview with NST in May 2015 when the team first received the invitation to the prestigious TI5 tournament, Fadil on behalf of Team Fnatic expressed, "We were very taken aback by it and was genuinely surprised we got the slot considering the organiser, Valve emphasises a lot on team stability. While our team is stable, it is still comparably new. However our performance thus far has been pretty good and that must have convinced them. It is my first TI tournament and I'm very excited to compete in it. I will train hard for it and I hope we will finish well in the tournament."
Fnatic has also released a video of the team undergoing boot camp session in Sweden recently. The video, titled Dota 2: Fnatic TI5 Bootcamp can be viewed below:
Meanwhile Astro's move to provide live coverage is lauded by Dato' Latt Shariman Abdullah, President of eSports Malaysia.
“This is a very good opportunity to show to the whole world that e-Sports is recognized as a sports in Malaysia through eSports Malaysia (eSM). We would like to thank Astro for taking the lead to bring eSports through the mainstream media reaching out to all Malaysians. At eSM, we hope that this coverage will ignite more interest amongst the gaming community as well as for sponsors to invest and be part of the e-Sports Industry in the future."
To catch TI5 in action using Astro on the Go, launch the app or go to www.astroonthego.com and tune into Astro SuperSport Plus Channel 808 under LIVE TV tab. Details available at www.stadiumastro.com.