KUCHING: Training for almost 20 hours daily with only four to five hours sleep daily paid off for the Negri Sembilan eSports team at the Malaysia Games (Sukma).
They won the gold medal in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) event today.
The Negri gamers - Lim Jin Gian, Zyedanshah Sabari, Al-Amin Mohd Zamri, Hadif Iqbal, Hazril Haziq Khairol and Shahrul Nasser - defeated the Perak team 3-2 in the final match at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak.
Negri lost the first game, but rallied in the next two to lead 2-1. Perak levelled in the fourth to make it 2-2. But Negri prevailed in the fifth and final game.
Hadif said he started training at 10am daily, only sleeping for five hours to ensure he maintained the best momentum for the Sukma.
"Given our limited understanding due to individual commitments, we still tried to cooperate well to ensure victory for Negri Sembilan. It was quite challenging since we only had a month to train, but all the efforts paid off when we won the gold," he said.
In the Tekken 8 event, Melaka's Aman Sofee Mohd Zahari displayed superior gaming skill in defeating Johor's Haiqal Haqimi Pawzi 12-7. Perak's Firdaus Indra Noor Azman won the bronze.
In the e-Football event, Kedah's Hariz Hazmi Hakimi won the gold after defeating Johor's Danish Hakim Nor Azam 3-1.
The bronze went to Johor's Aieman Shaffrie Salleh Huddin who defeated Sarawak's Hazwan Faiq Hailwan 3-0.