Underdog 17Gaming crowned PUBG Global Series 1 Champions
Chinese team 17Gaming has secured its place in the PUBG esports history books as the first-ever champions of the PUBG Global Series 1 (PGS 1) championship. The competition took place over three days, from May 5-7, at the Battle Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The team takes home a sizable prize of $80,000, along with crucial 200 PGS Points, which are accrued to qualify for the PUBG Global Championship in 2023.
An unlikely comeback
17Gaming's roster, consisting of Shengjun “Lilghost” Luo, Zhanya “Xbei” Tu, Bo “xwudd” Wu, and Lin “SuJiu” Yu, overcame a slow start in the tournament, finishing 19th in the Group Stage and dropping to the Losers Bracket during which they finished at a modest fifth place.
Click to enlargeDuring day 2 of the Grand Finals, they showed off their class with several high-scoring matches, ultimately securing their top spot in the tournament with a sizable lead of 33 points, finishing at 157 points. Second-placed Acend finished with 124 points, while third-placed Tianba Esports garnered 122 points.
The mostly German squad of Acend, who had a similar journey as 17Gaming by dropping to the Losers Bracket, managed to secure their best global PUBG Esports performance to date, shining through methodical yet bloodthirsty play giving them the overall highest kill-scoring total during the Grand Finals.
As the runner-up in last year's PUBG Global Championship, 17Gaming's PGS 1 victory further solidifies their position as a top contender in PUBG and the team remains a favourite for the world championship title.
Danawa e-sports' team leader, "seoul," was named the MVP of PGS 1, shining with nearly two kills per match and almost lifting his team to a podium position.
The event showed strong viewership with more than 70000 viewers on average tuning into the action on just YouTube and Twitch. The numbers peaked on those services with over 134.000 viewers according to Esports Charts. International viewership especially in China is expected to be even larger.
You can catch all the VOD action on PUBG Esports' official channel.
More action to come
Details about the upcoming PUBG Global Series 2 (PGS 2) were also revealed during the final day of PGS 1. The event will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from August 10-20 and is being powered by Gamers8, the world's leading esports festival. PGS 2 will feature 24 top teams competing for a total prize pool of $2,000,000, and it will be the first global PUBG Esports event to introduce an updated ruleset, including the addition of the Taego map.
