By Ozzy Alaba
MANILA - China and Saudi Arabia started their 2018 Asian Games - Esports Demonstration Event (League of Legends) Group Stages on a high note after trampling their assignments in the curtain-raisers of their respective groups, Monday morning (Philippine time) at the Kelapa Gading Sports Mall in Jakarta, Indonesia.
CHN, who are the favorites to advance to the Gold Medal Match alongside with the Republic of Korea, lived into the hype as it ruthlessly demolished an internationally young Kazakhstan side in the very first game of Group A.
The Chinese didn't take too much time to mount its momentum as it established a huge 12,000-gold lead in the first ten minutes and a 21-3 kill advantage in the 13th minute until completing its work with a success in just 17 minutes, racking up 30 kills in total against three of the Kazakhs, and a 19,000-gold advantage at the end.
Royal Never Give Up's jungler Liu (Mlxg) Shi-Yu spearheaded the said onslaught as he claimed the first Man of the Match through his stellar all-around showing, which translated to its 8/1/10 Kill-Death-Assist (KDA) card and its 60% kill participation. Liu's fellow teammates Yan (Letme) Jun-Ze and Jian (Uzi) Zi-Hao also had its presence shine in the one-sided match as they both combine for 15 kills and 13 assists in the process.
Edward Gaming's captain Tian (Meiko) Ye and WE's mid laner Su (Xiye) Han-Wei also supported the Chinese backline as they both merged 23 total assists, which resulted to its 93.33% kill participation.
KSA, on the other hand, also scored their inaugural win in the international stage as it stopped the hometown heroes Indonesia in a 25-minute masterful showdown, with mid laner Maan Kenan (Fear) Arshan asserting its dominance in assassins through his 8/2/6 KDA on the reworked Akali.
"We just wanted to reach the semifinals, so it was a great experience to win in such big stage." Arshan quoted in his post-game interview.
The Saudi Arabians' top-jungle duo Hamza and Ajwad Wazzan also showed its in-sync performance as they both combine for an 18 KDA Ratio (4/1/18 KDA).
With the win, both squads will register one win each in their respective groups.
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