Global Esports Games Istanbul 2022 – Recap

Last week, Team Great Britain competed against fourteen countries from all sides of the world in the Global Esports Games held in Istanbul.

We look back at all of the action from the 15th-17th December 2022, and celebrate the achievements of Team Great Britain once again.

---

The team was once again led by Mark Weller, with the help of Josh ‘Bryn’ Norris, and seven players attended the live event to represent Great Britain and bring home more medals.

At the event, Team Great Britain were competing in:
Dota 2 Women’s
eFootball PES
Street Fighter V

Whilst Team Great Britain did not qualify for them, games were also played in PUBG Mobile and Dota 2 Open categories.

Following on from the inaugural event in Singapore last year, where the Dota 2 Women’s team won a Silver medal, hopes were high for Team Great Britain – and the players all performed brilliantly.

Mark Weller said: “Istanbul 22 was an incredibly competitive event and due to a number of a factors I feel we fell short this year, we had an incredibly strong selection and back office, with a large number of us coming off a successful Commonwealth Games appearance with our respective country’s, unfortunately we just couldn’t connect the dots on the day. But with that said, and all things considered, we can certainly be proud of our performance and returning home with a silver medal for a second consecutive year.“

---

Street Fighter V – The4Philzz wins Silver:

Kim-Philippe ‘The4Philzz’ Badiabio was one of a few returning participants from Team Great Britain, and was determined to beat his fourth-place position in Singapore.

After some technical difficulties on Day 1, Kim-Philippe was able to have a solid opportunity to get his way through the top 16, and then get to the finals.

Starting strong going 3-0 against Lithuania, The4Philzz easily qualified for the top 16 bracket, and prepared himself for the fierce competition to come. Beating out Canada, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE players, The4Philzz went on a winning streak of 12-0 – not dropping a single point and securing himself a spot in the Grand Final.

Going up against the Chinese Taipei, a rematch of last year’s semi-final between Kim-Philippe and GamerBee happened live on the main stage – and both players were ready to win.

A very close 1-3  match saw The4Philzz just miss out on the gold medal, but made everyone proud securing a silver medal for Great Britain.

Kim-Philippe said: “When it comes to the social aspect, GEG 2022 was one of my favourite events to date. I am happy to have performed as well as I did while representing Great Britain this year, and 2nd place is still a great result. I feel like the Global Esports Games are still a growing event, and given time and feedback, it will keep getting better throughout the years.”

---

Dota 2 Women’s – Team reaches Quarter-Finals:

After their success for Esports England at the Commonwealth Esports Championships 2022, the same roster was asked to represent Great Britain in Istanbul and hopefully recreate their achievements in Birmingham.

Having achieved the silver medal last year, the new players were eager to reach medal positions again, but unfortunately just missed out this year.

Going up against Argentina in the Quarter Finals, Great Britain got off to a strong start taking the first game with ease. However, the Argentina Women’s roster stepped up and ended the series 2-1 – knocking Great Britain out of the running for a medal.

Game one is ours!💪
🇬🇧 1-0 🇦🇷

More team fights like this and we will be at the #GEG22 Dota 2 Women Semi-final! 👏

Join us shortly for game two 👉https://t.co/74N6PSzjBG pic.twitter.com/CdOpErNTx4

— British Esports (@British_Esports) December 15, 2022

Ellenor ‘BelleMiku’ Howard, Dota 2 Women’s Great Britain representative said: “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the results we hoped for but it was still a lovely event with my team and I feel like we actually did improve a lot and had a really great bonding experience. At the end of the day, we met so many new and old friends from all around the world we wouldn’t have otherwise, so I am so grateful for that opportunity.”

All of the players did exceptionally well, and showed that Great Britain is a force to be reckoned with!

---

eFootball PES – xBigStuff reaches Top 16:

Having received a silver medal at the Commonwealth Esports Championships 2022, Gary ‘xBigStuff’ McInnes was asked to represent Great Britain in Istanbul, and was able to show his skills in the eFootball Open category.

Starting off in the Top 64, tensions were high going up against Somalia, but xBigStuff came out with a bang to end the first match 6-0. This momentum carried him through the second match of this series, and Gary was able to move into the Top 32 bracket after defeating Somalia 2-0.

Moving into the Top 32, Gary was able to take down Brunei Darussalam 2-1 in a tense series, but this meant that he was moving into the Top 16.

Unfortunately, after a back and forth match against Belgium, xBigStuff just missed out on a space in the quarter final, and was defeated 2-1 in this final match.

Gary played very well, and we have high hopes for his achievements in the future!

---

Now that the Global Esports Games 2022 have concluded, we can look forward to all of the action next year in Riyadh – with more details about the titles and the event itself coming early 2023.
 
Still after some esports action going into the new year? Registrations are currently open for the Student Champs 2022/23 Spring split, so make sure to sign up before the 11th January to secure a space for your school or college.