The teams will be playing Mobile Legends Bang Bang from 9.30am until 3.30pm. The event is organised by MPI, supported by the Sibu Division E-sports Association (SDESA), Ministry of Youth Sports and Entrepreneur Development and Pelawan Premier Leaque.
The participating schools that are sending two teams each include SMK Methodist, SMK Sacred Heart, SMK Chung Hua, SMK Agama Sibu, SM Citizen and SM Kiang Hin.
SMK Durin, Woodlands International School, SM Guong Ming, and SM Wong Nai Siong will each send one team.
According to the president of SDESA, Abdul Taib Rosli, the aim of this tournament is to find local talents in E-sports that could one day represent not just Sibu but also Sarawak and Malaysia.
“One of the highlights of this tournament is a coaching session by a prominent Malaysian esports coach and analyst, Hifadhi Fatha Sarbini. He is also the Sarawak Sports Corporation Development Program Coach; he is the one who will find local talents in e-sports.
“He will be here to see the talents from the schools in Sibu Division and hopefully bring them to a higher level as E-sports athletes. E-sports is not just a game or a sport, it will actually open up many career opportunities,” he said it in a press conference recently.
Also present at the press conference was Pelawan Premier League spokesperson Moses Ting Ming Chung.
Abdul Taib explained that Hifadhi was a teenager who loved to play e-sports and had represented Malaysia internationally as an e-sports athlete. Today, he is a coach.
During the coaching session, Hifadhi will discuss the techniques that international players use in playing Mobile Legends. He will also share his experience on how he built his career – from an e-sports athlete to becoming a coach.
“He will also share the opportunities available in the international arena in playing Mobile Legends,” he pointed out.
He added that this is the third instalment of the Sibu Division E-sports Tournament organised by MPI. He said through tournaments like this, SDESA is able to collect data and records of potential athletes that could represent Sibu one day.
“So far, we do not have inter-school tournaments in every division. Sibu is the first to have such an inter-school e-sports tournament to find local talents. We will propose this to the state-level association to have this tournament organised in every division,” he said.