[December 16, 2017] The two finalist teams of "Emperor Cup 2017: League of Legends", "NO FANCY" and "TEAM ORION", fought for the ultimate victory and great reward, witnessed by a vast audience of e-sports fans at KITEC yesterday afternoon. They made their ways into the final after competing with 126 other teams in more than a month.

“Emperor Cup 2017: League of Legends", hosted by Emperor Esports Stars (EES), co-organized by E-Sports Association Hong Kong and sponsored by China Taiping Life Insurance (Hong Kong), drew to a climactic close in the cheers of spectators, some of whom even dressed in cosplay costumes to show their support. It was broadcasted live on TWITCH and PANDA.TV to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland.

EEG artiste Hins Cheung attended the opening ceremony as officiating guests. Another special appearance was made by Dr. Albert Yeung, Chairman of Emperor Group, in the company of other EEG artistes that included Michelle Wai, Carlos Chan, Kathy Yuen and Bryant Mak. Ms. Shirley Hughes, Chief Executive Officer of EEG, Mr. Alex Yeung, Corporate Executive of Emperor Group, and Mr. Clearence Cheung, Head of Business of EES, joint the event as well. Mr. Wang Xin, Chief Executive Officer of China Taiping Insurance (Hong Kong) Company Limited, Mr. Ryan Chow, Chairman of E-Sports Association Hong Kong, and EES women’s team Stinga also showed their support with their presence. Chang "BeBe" Bo-Wei, former League of Legends world champion and J TEAM captain, and Backstairs, famous League of Legends commentator and coach, were invited to be judges of “Most Valuable Player Award (MVP)” .

The "Emperor Cup 2017: League of Legends" was the first "League of Legends" tournament in Hong Kong held in off-line mode all along from group stage up to the grand final. It was also the first esports competition in Hong Kong titled with a private organization, offering the highest prize money as well. It aimed to identify and train potential esports players.

The event was kicked off with the Emperor Cup theme song “Our Time”, composed by Dough-Boy, a winner of Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Film Song and famous rapper. Cheered by the other 6 teams qualified for the semi-finals, "NO FANCY" and "TEAM ORION" then greeted the audience and walked up on to the stage with “Emperor Cup” handed over to them by Hins.

Hins said he enjoyed playing video games, especially fighting games, during his spare time. He mentioned that Ken Hung was one of the few excellent video players in the Group. He used to play alone but now he would team up with Ken and play with others, as teamwork was critical for esports. He had recently spent tens of thousand dollars for some professional esports equipment and was thinking of establishing an esports music company, hopefully with Dr. Yeung as an investor. He also encouraged esports players to continue pursue their goals in the face of setbacks.

Today's winning team will represent Hong Kong and compete with 15 other teams from the Mainland, Macau and Taiwan regions. During training, players not only need to strengthen their knowledge in dealing with different teams' skills and strategies, but also need to pay attention to their psychological quality, communicate adequately and handle stressful situations. EEG has identified potential players from the past month's tournament and is now closely monitoring their development.

The competition was based on the best of five sets system, with each game lasting about 45 minutes. During the rest between rounds, On-site reviewers commented on the players’ performance in reference to their combat skills, tactics and characters, which also served as the basis of evaluating MVP candidates. In order to add to the fun of the entire event, the host interacted with the audience in Q&A during the halftime session and gave winners gift packages sponsored by renowned video game equipment manufacturer Razer as well as Hong Kong gaming chair manufacturer ZENOX. RAZER's gift package includes a keyboard, a mouse and a professional headset, while ZENOX offers a special version of a professional gaming chair printed with EES logo.

The champion team received the title “The First Emperor Cup Winner” and a trophy. Each team member was given a tailor-made championship ring and shared HKD120,000 prize money. They would also represent Hong Kong and compete with the other esports teams at the "Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau E-sports Championship". The first runner-up, second runner-up and the "Most Valuable Player (MVP)" awards also went to respective winners.

With the government actively promoting emerging industries, esports has been drawing increasing attention. It has great potential for development, benefiting Hong Kong's overall economy. In the future, EES will continue to work in line with the government policy, expanding our businesses in three aspects, team management, competition organization, and, starting from 2018, setting up an esports academy. EES aims to foster healthy development of the industry in the territories and strives to make a name for Hong Kong overseas.