With two champions emerging out of the Great Britain national qualifiers on Wednesday, the Brits are ready to roll into the playoff round of the 2020 IIHF Esports Fan Championship.
Connor ‘MartindalexC’ Martindale and Sean ‘Sean’ McIntosh earned the right to rep the Union Jack on the virtual ice. ‘MartindalexC’ took no prisoners on the PlayStation 4 after an initial walk-through in the second round, overrunning ‘Riley Wilson’ 13:0 and immediately claiming the role of favourite. The next opponent ‘vougiedipond’ put Martindale to the test, but in the end the latter won 3:2.
In the quarter- and semi-final ‘MartindalexC’ started to roll as ‘Spider99988’ (6:3) and ‘ProBuzz96’ (4:1) could not keep up the pace. In the final match Martindale faced Martin ‘DeathcoreFace’ Belus, who until then had marched through the tournament superiorly. But against ‘MartindalexC’ the finalist had no chance in a 7:0 shutout.
‘Sean’ had a tougher go in the final on the Xbox One qualification, but thanks to a 3:2 victory over Tom ‘tomosmithy’ Brookesmith, McIntosh secured his place in the playoffs next to Martindale. Sean’s strong defensive performance in the build-up to the final was what made him stand out: He conceded just three goals in four games. In the second round against ‘S price’ (3:0) and in the quarter-finals against ‘TurkishChernobyl’ (4-0), ‘Sean’ kept his goal clean. ‘Dzuka10’ (6:1) and ‘JP Wilson’ (6:2) overcame McIntosh in the opening match and in the semi-finals, but were unable to slow him down at the other end of the ice.
‘MartindalexC’ and ‘Sean’ will represent the UK in the main round from 29 May, with the qualifier winners also receiving additional prizes: two tickets each to see their national team compete in a 2021 Ice Hockey World Championship game, 100 euros prize money and an IIHF Esports Fan Championship puck.