11 medals for UK esports at Commonwealth Esports Championships
11 August 2022
We wrote earlier about the Commonwealth Esports Championships, which were held for the first time this year, at the International Convention Center (ICC) in Birmingham. Paralel to the 22nd Commonwealth Games, which also took place in Birmingham, the best esporters from all over the Commonwealth gathered on August 7th and 8th to compete in three of the most popular titles in UK esports and international esports: Rocket League, eFootball and DotA 2. The United Kingdom’s home nation esports teams (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) ended up with 11 medals, including three gold ones. It was Malaysia though, who as a single nation took home the most gold medals with three pieces.
Good times for UK esports
Esports in the UK have been on the rise for some years now and the first edition of the Commonwealth Esports Championships represented a perfect opportunity to compare that rise to developments in other countries. The home nations did not disappoint, as by the end of the event, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland respectively ended in second, third, fourth and fifth place in the overall esports medal count. As we wrote earlier, only Malaysia did better than the UK esports teams.
- Malaysia (3 gold)
- England (1 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
- Wales (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
- Northern Ireland (1 gold)
- Scotland (2 silver)
- Australia (2 bronze)
England’s gold medal came courtesy of the country’s female Rocket League team, while Wales won the Rocket League Open. Northern Ireland grabbed the gold in women’s eFootball. The English team, especially, was very close to a few more gold medals, but in both the final of the DotA 2 Open and the DotA 2 women’s tournament, Malaysia proved to be a bridge too far for the Brits.
Commonwealth Esports Championships a big success overall
As you can imagine, the reactions of the various UK esporters active and successful during the Commonwealth Esports Championships were extremely positive.
“We were very confident, we know how good we are, but to then go out on the stage and prove it is incredible”, said England women’s Rocket League player Bella Athena “Crimson” Selwood, after her team’s impressive victory, “It’s an unreal feeling to have esports at the Commonwealth, to play for your country. There are so few words to describe it”.
Englands DotA 2 open player Jason “Tanner” spoke words of a similar meaning, although he was also a bit disappointed with losing to Malaysia in two finals. “We prepared well, but during the game, we basically lost our footing and the enemy took a really big advantage”, he commented, “In game two we came back strong. We did very well and that was a deserved win. In the third game, we were ahead, and I felt like we had the better draft, but the execution was just off. It’s a bittersweet feeling. I felt like we could have got gold. But in the end, the Commonwealth Esports Championships was a great event and I’m pleased we came out to play”.