TARLAC CITY — Mayor Cristy Angeles made history in the Province by making this City the host for the first Tarlac e-Sports League (TESL) National Finals on April 28, 2017.
TESL rooted from a trivia posted on October 6, 2016 at the City Information Office Official Facebook Page about WASD, the first ever Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) server in the Philippines.
The Tarlac City-based server which then had 3,000 members, now boasts over 5,000 members countrywide.
On November 10, 2016, WASD bosses Victor Zamora, Kenneth Saunders Jr. and Emmanuel Deang made initial propositions to Mayor Cristy Angeles to hold this historical event in partnership with the City Government.
The preparations and eliminations for the Tarlac e-Sports League were conducted in January until April 23, 2017.
The championship was lined-up with other events in celebration of the 19th Charter Anniversary of Tarlac City.
From 52 teams from all over the country, eight teams battled its way to the National Finals.
From Luzon, Mineski, Anonas Complex Gaming (ACG.T), Fallen 5, Imperium Pro Team (IPT) and Fractals made it to the championship.
Gaon Gaming, the Visayan contenders, and CGH from Mindanao were also geared to combat.
Mineski, one of the top pro-gaming teams in South East Asia, bagged the grand prize of P120,000 for being the champion in the first ever e-sports league.
Gaon Gaming received P30,000 for being the second team to make it on the top while all other finalists received P10,000.
Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education Culture and Arts and the Committee on Science and Technology, likewise showed his support and visited the gamers and e-sports followers to give his message.
“The Tarlac eSports League is currently considered to be the biggest CS:GO event this time of the year, both in prize coverage as well as the number and quality of teams participating. It is also the first-ever CS:GO tournament done by a public-private partnership (PPP) in the Philippines,” WASD Board said in its press release./Tarlac CIO