On July 30th, the Sky Proleague Round 1 Final took place at KwangAn, a beach overlooking the Pusan Bridge in Pusan, South Korea.
Sand, water, and Starcraft; what more could one ask for?
Both teams have a mighty lineup, so when these two e-Sports clubs duke it out, sparks are sure to fly. However, the night ended with a lot less competition than what could have come out of this battle:
SK Telecom T1 KTF MagicNs1on1 Midas[gm] > [Oops]Reach1-0 GoRush > Qoo)Blaze1-0 Kingdom > Nal_rA1-0 2on2 IntoTheRainBow GoRush > ChoJJa_LeGenD TheMarine1-0 Rumble Canata < [NC]..YellOw [Oops]Reach0-1 |
All of the matches were very well played-out but perhaps the highlight of these matches was midas[gm] vs. [Oops]Reach due to the fact that midas[gm] bunker-rushed a Protoss player, namely [Oops]Reach, and came out the victor.
Although the "Cheater Terran" iloveoov was unable to play due to a ban from teamleagues, he still came to the scene cheerfully and played a large role in the team's performance.
"I am thankful for all the players who have tried hard to make the team united. Above all I am greatful for iloveoov who was a huge addition while practicing. It is needless to say thanks to the company. They supported us with good care and interest. I am so happy that we all can repay the love that the fans have shown us." - Joo Hoon, SK Telecom T1's Head Coach
iloveoov will now be allowed to play in the Sky Proleague Round 2. He himself stated "I wanted to play so much. But since it couldn¡¯t be done, I wished that my teammates would win. Even today, watching the finals, I wanted to play up there so much."
Lastly, it is not a Sky Proleague Final unless there is a large audience. Last year's Sky Proleague was the first league ever to break the 100,000 live-viewer barrier, defeating baseball by about 75,000 viewers. The number did not seem to dwindle during this one either. In fact, it may even be going up.
This is Starcraft.
Links
TeamLiquid.net - SK Telecom T1 Interview translated by rinizim
FighterForum.com - Pictures and interview (see above)
OnGameNet.com - Source, league, and broadcasting