The Yenex e-sports team which comprises Hoër Tegniese Skool Tom Naudé learners Ryno van der Merwe, Anton Cronjé, Aubrey Greyling, Janco van Rensburg, and Chrisjan Bekker surged up the ranks from unseeded to number one in the country during the Mind Sports South Africa 6th Limpopo Championships held on their home turf on Saturday.
The team crushed their opponents to win the Mind Sports South Africa League of Legends e-sports title and will be participating in the South African Championships scheduled for 2 and 3 December in Gauteng.
Other achievers from the school were Thandi Ngoveni and Michelle Mensa who earned provincial colours for morabaraba during the championships. The two displayed great tactical skill to defeat their opponents. Morabaraba is a traditional two-player strategy board game and an official discipline of the Traditional World Games and Mind Sports South Africa. The game is accessible, easy to learn and played, yet the strategic and tactical aspects of the game run deep.
Colin Webster, General Secretary of Mind Sports South Africa said this was the first time in the history of South African e-sports that a team based in Polokwane became the top ranked team. “Yenex’s high standard of play cements Mind Sports South Africa’s belief that the future of gaming is in good hands as long as there is continued development at school level,” Webster said.
Antonette Jordaan, educator and coordinator of e-sports at the school said they were proud to have hosted the provincial event. “Even though the event was not held at the best possible time for many learners, the championships had more titles played than ever before and has allowed 24 registered players to qualify for Mind Sports South Africa’s 2018 national team trials. All of the member clubs in Limpopo have submitted an alternative date for the 7th Limpopo Championships. The suggested date should make the championships more accessible to many of the provinces Registered Players, which will even further increase the popularity of the Limpopo Provincial Championships,” Jordaan said.
E-sports is also known as electronic sports, competitive video gaming, professional video gaming, or pro gaming which is a form of competition that is facilitated by electronic systems, particularly video games, the input of players and teams as well as the output of the e-sports system are mediated by human-computer interfaces.
Story and photos: Herbert Rachuene
>>herbert.observer@gmail.com
