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Wednesday, 19 February 2020 01:21 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Mobitel Marketing Senior General Manager Isuru Dissanayake exchanging the MOU with Gamer.lk CEO Raveen Wijeyetilake flanked by Mobitel Prepaid and Digital Services Senior Manager Suneth Haputhanthri (right) and Mobitel Digital Services Senior Product Executive Alifa Rizwan (left)
With a pledge to build eSports in the country, Mobitel, the premier connectivity provider in partnership with Gamer.LK, has come forward to power Sri Lanka’s largest mobile league tournament.
PUBG Mobile is a third-person combat game known to be one of the most popular mobile games played in South Asia with millions of youth connecting online to play through their smartphones.
Bringing the excitement to Sri Lanka, the Mobitel Esports Premier League will feature a team from each of the nine provinces of the island. Qualifiers for the tournament commenced on 8 February and a televised grand final will happen on 22 February at Stein Studios, Ratmalana where nine teams – the Eastern Gladiators, Kandurata Kings, Northern Rangers, Rajarata Giants, Sabaragamuwa Knights, Southern Sharks, Uva Bandits, Wayamba Raiders and Western Warriors – will battle each other to take home the grand prize.
This record-breaking Esports tournament offers Rs. 1,000,000 in prize money and currently has over 300 participating squads, resulting in a record for Sri Lankan Esports in terms of the number of participants for a single-title tournament. Driven by Mobitel’s advanced 4G connectivity, thousands of spectators are expected to watch the action unfolding live through Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Mixer.
Esports has grown rapidly in recent years and is today known to be the fastest-growing sport in Sri Lanka. In the face of such significant growth, Esports was certified as an official sport in September 2019. Mobitel has built a reputation for supporting sports in Sri Lanka and recognises the importance of promoting new sports where the country has the potential to excel and reach international standards. Over the years as the national mobile service provider, Mobitel has taken a number of progressive steps in its attempts to identify and empower young talent, thereby helping foster the technological skills of the future generation. Through this tournament, Mobitel and Gamer.LK have been able to create a groundbreaking platform for the country’s young Esports competitors to showcase their talents, harness their skills and fine-tune strategies as they aim to take Sri Lanka’s Esports to the global stage.
Gamer.LK has been at the forefront of promoting and developing Esports in Sri Lanka, organising Sri Lanka’s largest Esports events that have captured large audiences. Gamer.LK has also organised international Esports events such as the Esports South Asia Cup hosted in Sri Lanka in partnership with the National Olympic Committee.