- Approx. 200 players and staffs from 20 countries participated
- Team South Korea ranked 1st place
- IeSF(International e Sports Federation) General Meeting, approved 6 more member
The world’s first international official e sports competition, ‘2009 IeSF Challenge’ came to an end with a big success in Taebaek, Korea, a rising Mecca for e sports. This showed the potential for IeSF Challenge to be an e Sports Olympic.
‘2009 IeSF Challenge,’ extended over 5 days from December 10 to 14, was directed by the International e Sports Federation(IeSF) and Korean Creative Content Agency(KCCA); hosted by Taebaek City, and sponsored by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism(MCST), Kangwon Province, SK Telecom, High1 Resort and Neowiz Games.
Unlike other international competitions, in this competition more than 200 world top players from about 20 countries joined on behalf of their countries. After competitive tournament, Team South Korea ranked 1st place. The medals of the 2 official titles, which were individual competitions, went to Su Hao from China (WarCraft 3) and Joo Young Kim from Korea (FIFA Online 2); and Team South Korea also won the 1st place in the promotion competition (A.V.A), which was a team competition.
During the competition, IeSF held a general meeting and approved 6 new member nations (Spain, Bulgaria, South Africa, Singapore, Romania and the United Kingdom). Accordingly, IeSF, founded last year, now has 15 member nations including Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Netherlands, Chinese Taipei and Vietnam.
IeSF, also, announced international standards for ?占폫eferee Committee,??discussed referees and players certificates and had discussion for plans for a systematic development of world e sports, including expanding exchange among members, strengthening cooperation and establishing an e Spots Olympic.
Meanwhile, more than 20 media from world wide participated and showed great interests in Korean e sports industry and its infrastructures. Doug Hendrie, Australian freelance journalist, said “This competition shows that an e sport is growing as other international sports that can be enjoyed world wide, such as soccer and baseball.”
In addition, many Korean tourists visiting O2 Resort in Taebaek filled up every stadium and cheered the fascinating match of world top players. They participated in various events for tourists, such as ‘Winner guess event,’ costume play, caricature and etc.
There was an unveiling ceremony of IeSF Memorial Torch air-view on December 14. This 4-meter-tall monument, invested with 100 million KW, will be built in front of the O2 Resort Tower Condo by the end of this year. The torch will be lit before the start of the IeSF annual international e sports competition.
Won Suk Oh, Secretary-General of IeSF said “this is as announcement for the start of the e Sports Olympic, and IeSF will be an international sports organization by extending its member nations to 50 countries by 2013. I will do my best for establishing cooperation system and global standards of e sports around Korea, the host country.”
Jong Gi Park, Mayor of Taebaek, also said “by this competition, Taebaek got a footing in game industry which will accelerate the growth of the city. We will invest 600 billion KW in next 5 years for establishing E-City and will be the center of e sports industry.”
