Hong Kong beat China but crash out in FIFAe Nations Series qualifiers debut
- Team finish fourth in Asia & Oceania group B to miss out on finals in Copenhagen
- Star players Ho and Cheung hope their performances will help improve Hong Kong’s esports competition
Hong Kong’s debuting FIFAe Nations Series team may not have qualified for the finals but their group campaign opened with a memorable win over China.
The quartet – made up of Ho Ka-ming (in-game name: HK_KEN) and Lai Ka-him (brianhim0913) on PS4 and Cheung Chi-shing (deiaynomore) and Li Ka-chun (Jesus0716) on Xbox 1 – outclassed their Chinese counterparts 4-1 across two legs in their Asia & Oceania regional group B match last week.
It was the only win in four matches for Hong Kong, who finished fourth and missed out by two points to make the winner or second chance brackets. They are still considered to be minnows in the global FIFAe scene and behind powerhouses Japan and South Korea in Asia.
Hong Kong were later handed a humbling 4-1 defeat by Indonesia, before drawing 3-3 with South Korea, and losing 4-1 to Singapore in the final round.
Group A’s Japan ultimately beat Indonesia in the winner bracket, while Malaysia and Singapore managed to stay in contention with second chance bracket wins.
Ho and Cheung are widely considered as the strongest players in their respective consoles, having dominated the local scene and competed in tournaments abroad.
The 25-year-old Ho is a Tin Shui Wai native with six years’ experience in esports. He told the HKFA that he dreamed of qualifying for the finals with Hong Kong and still aims to be a professional esports player.
He added that news of him becoming Hong Kong’s top player made the rounds in his housing estate and he is confident the Hong Kong esports football scene will rise in level when more matches and tournaments are held district-by-district.
The 25-year-old Cheung is a regular YouTube streamer from Tsuen Wan – his family lives in the US – with dreams of having a long competitive and business career in esports. Having expressed his excitement at being in the first-ever Hong Kong FIFAe team, he said he wants to help them qualify for more competitive Asia and Oceania leagues and events.
A total of 60 teams competed in the series, with 24 teams reaching the finals in Denmark on August 20-22, where they will compete for more than US$500,000 (HK$3.9 million) in prize money.
