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The live Grand Finals for the one of the biggest esports competitions globally, The International 2022, has just ended with London-based esports team Tundra Esports taking home the trophy and their $8.5m share of the prize pool of over $17m.
Why is this interesting?
- The International 2022 is a major event in the esports calendar, the entire event, from qualifiers to the Grand Final, takes place over three months and is played on one of the biggest games in the world, Dota 2
- The finals took place in Singapore and started on October 15th with the Grand Final taking place today in front of a live audience for the first time in two years
- In total 20 teams competed with Tundra Esports taking home the win
- The total prize pool was over $17m (USD), the first prize was $8.5m (USD)
- The prize pool is funded by fans and the 1st prize surpasses that of Wimbledon and the Rugby World Cup
- Tundra Esports was the underdog, defeating the reigning champions with a consistent strong performance throughout and not losing a single game throughout the tournament
- After coming top of the Group B bracket the quickly became one of the favourites to win
- The Grand Final was against European esports team, Team Secret. Tundra won the best of 5 match in a clean 3-0 sweep
- The first game was swift with Tundra dominating their opponents with a fortified style of play
- Team Secret consistently improved but were still no match for the undefeated and unstoppable Tundra. In the third game Team Secret took the lead but left themselves open allowing Tundra to take back the game, secure the Trophy and the grand prize
- The International 2022 saw nearly 1.75m peak viewers, over 67m hours watched across 120 hours of airtime
- Tundra Esports Team Captain, Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun said after the win – “I want to thank everyone for coming here, supporting us and watching the Grand Final. We wouldn’t be here without you guys. Shoutout to everyone who has supported us along the way!”
- Tundra Esports, considered the MVP of the tournament, Neta “33” Shapira said after the win “I am so happy…we did an amazing job throughout this tournament.”
- Tundra Esports ‘Carry’ Oliver “skiter” Lepko, said after the win “Its surreal, i’m trying to digest the emotions…its crazy!”
- Tundra Esports Martin “Saksa” Sazdov said after the win “It doesn’t feel real, i’m still trying to understand what happened in my mind, I can’t even believe it.”
Players will participate in a press conference in two weeks time to discuss their performance, training tactics and their feelings following the win. If you would like to take part or request an interview with the players please let me know.
Watch Tundra’s performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhQmAfzaw7c
Find our more about Tundra Esports at https://tundraesports.com/ and follow the team on Twitter at https://mobile.twitter.com/tundraesports
