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E-sports team Paper Rex's triumph at Valorant Masters a major win for Singapore, South-East Asia
E-sports team Paper Rex's triumph at Valorant Masters a major win for Singapore, South-East Asia

The Star

time25-06-2025

  • Sport
  • The Star

E-sports team Paper Rex's triumph at Valorant Masters a major win for Singapore, South-East Asia

(From left) Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza, Khalish "d4v41" Rusyaide, Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie and Ilia 'something' Petrov celebrating with the VCT Masters trophy. - RIOT GAMES SINGAPORE: After a series of near-misses, Singapore-based e-sports team Paper Rex finally ended their wait for a major international trophy. The team of mostly South-East Asian (SEA) players emerged victorious in the grand final of Valorant Masters Toronto, beating the formidable Fnatic 3-1 at the Enercare Centre on June 22 to claim the US$350,000 top prize. London-based team Fnatic, the 2023 Masters winners, had fought their way through the losers' bracket and put up a formidable challenge in the best-of-five final, before losing the tense 4½-hour battle in the popular first-person shooter video game. Wang 'Jinggg' Jing Jie, the only Singaporean player on the Paper Rex roster, could barely contain his delight after securing the long-awaited victory to make up for the disappointment of losing in the grand final of the 2023 Valorant Champions. The Champions tournament is a higher tier than Masters competitions. Said the 21-year-old: 'It's surreal. The feeling is just setting in. I'm proud of myself and my team. I'm happy to be able to represent not just my country but also fly all the flags of our home SEA region.' While Paper Rex are based in Singapore, their players come mainly from around the region. Besides Russian Ilia 'something' Petrov, the other members are Indonesians Aaron 'mindfreak' Leonhart and Jason 'f0rsakeN' Susanto; Malaysian Khalish 'd4v41' Rusyaidee; and Patrick 'PatMen' Mendoza from the Philippines. In the first-round group stage, Paper Rex beat Team Heretics of Spain 2-0 but lost 2-0 to North American side Gen.G Esports. With their campaign on the line, they mustered a 2-1 victory over Team Liquid of the Netherlands to seal one of the four spots in the next round. Pitted against winners from the four international leagues – North and South America; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; the Pacific (Japan, South Korea, and India); and China – in the eight-team, double-elimination play-offs, Paper Rex went unbeaten into the grand final. The won all their best-of-three matches 2-0 – beating North America's G2 Esports, Sentinels of the United States before overcoming Wolves Esports, the e-sports team of English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers. Paper Rex coach Alexandre 'alecks' Salle was filled with 'a sense of relief, mostly'. 'I don't think I could stomach (another) loss,' said Salle, referring to their near misses, including finishing fifth/sixth at the 2024 Valorant Masters Shanghai and third at the Valorant Masters Tokyo in 2023. 'I'm sure it will dawn on me eventually that we've achieved one of our goals.' The 35-year-old Frenchman and Singapore permanent resident paid tribute to the immense support from their fans in the region 'which drives us forward'. Besides the support, he also attributed their victory to 'a holistic approach to player training and development'. Salle said: 'We have a performance coach and watch what we eat. I think we found a balance that worked for us. I think this is a sign that perhaps e-sports is maturing into a professional athletic sport.' Paper Rex chief creative officer Gad Tan added: 'E-sports players by nature sleep late, wake up late, have irregular eating habits (and) don't get fresh air much. The performance coach helps (them) develop a sense of mindfulness about themselves and approach a work day with better energy.' With the trophy in hand, Paper Rex are looking forward to their next assignment – Stage 2 of the Valorant Pacific League in Seoul from July 15 to Aug 31. Their ultimate goal will be to qualify and making a deep run at the Sept 12-Oct 5 Valorant Champions in Paris. - The Straits Times/ANN

Paper Rex's triumph at Valorant Masters a major win for Singapore & South-east Asia
Paper Rex's triumph at Valorant Masters a major win for Singapore & South-east Asia

Straits Times

time24-06-2025

  • Sport
  • Straits Times

Paper Rex's triumph at Valorant Masters a major win for Singapore & South-east Asia

(from left) Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza, Khalish "d4v41" Rusyaide, Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie and Ilia 'something' Petrov celebrating with the VCT Masters trophy. PHOTO: RIOT GAMES SINGAPORE – After a series of near-misses, Singapore-based e-sports team Paper Rex finally ended their wait for a major international trophy. The team of mostly South-east Asian (SEA) players emerged victorious in the grand final of Valorant Masters Toronto, beating formidable Fnatic 3-1 at the Enercare Centre on June 23 to claim the US$350,000 (S$448,000) top prize. London-based team Fnatic, the 2023 champions, had fought their way through the losers' bracket and put up a formidable challenge in the best-of-five final before losing the tense 4½-hour battle in the popular first-person shooter video game. Wang 'Jinggg' Jing Jie, th e only Singaporean player on the Paper Rex roster, could barely contain his delight after securing the long-awaited victory to make up for the disappointment of losing in the grand final of the Valorant Champions in 2023. Said the 21-year-old: 'It's surreal. The feeling is just setting in. I'm proud of myself and my team. I'm happy to be able to represent not just my country but also fly all the flags of our home SEA region.' While Paper Rex are based in Singapore, their players come mainly from around the region. Besides Russian Ilia 'something' Petrov, the other members are Indonesians Aaron 'Mindfreak' Leonhart and Jason 'f0rsakeN' Susanto; Malaysian Khalish 'd4v41' Rusyaide; and Patrick 'PatMen' Mendoza from the Philippines. Wang 'Jinggg' Jing Jie (second from left) is the only Singaporean player on Paper Rex's roster. PHOTO: RIOT GAMES In the first-round group stage, Paper Rex beat Team Heretics of Spain 2-0 but lost 2-0 to North American side Gen.G Esports. With their campaign on the line, they mustered a 2-1 victory over Team Liquid of the Netherlands to seal one of the four spots in the next round. Pitted against winners from the four international leagues – North and South America; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; the Pacific (Japan, Korea, and India); and China – in the eight-team, double-elimination play-offs, Paper Rex went unbeaten into the grand final. The won all their best-of-three matches 2-0 – beating North America's G2 Esports, Sentinels of the United States before overcoming Wolves Esports, the e-sports team of English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers. Paper Rex coach Alexandre 'Alecks' Salle was filled with 'a sense of relief mostly'. 'I don't think I could stomach (another) loss,' said Salle, referring to their near misses, including finishing fifth/sixth at the 2 024 Valorant Masters Shanghai and third at the Valorant Masters Tokyo in 2023. 'I'm sure it will dawn on me eventually that we've achieved one of our goals.' The 35-year-old Singapore permanent resident paid tribute to the immense support from their fans in the region, 'which drives us forward'. Besides the support, he also attributed their victory to 'a holistic approach to player training and development'. Salle said: 'We have a performance coach and watch what we eat. I think we found a balance that worked for us. I think this is a sign that perhaps e-sports is maturing into a professional athletic sport.' Paper Rex chief creative officer Gad Tan added, saying: 'E-sports players by nature sleep late, wake up late, have irregular eating habits (and) don't get fresh air much. 'The performance coach helps (them) develop a sense of mindfulness about themselves and approach a work day with better energy.' With the trophy in hand, Paper Rex are looking forward to their next assignment – Stage 2 of the Valorant Pacific League in Seoul from July 15 to Aug 31 . Their ultimate goal will be to qualify and making a deep run at the Sept 12-Oct 5 Valo rant Champions in Paris . Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Valorant Masters Toronto: Singapore-Based Paper Rex Makes History With Republic's First Win
Valorant Masters Toronto: Singapore-Based Paper Rex Makes History With Republic's First Win

Geek Culture

time23-06-2025

  • Sport
  • Geek Culture

Valorant Masters Toronto: Singapore-Based Paper Rex Makes History With Republic's First Win

Third time's the charm for Paper Rex. The Singapore-based esports team has walked away as the champions of Valorant Masters Toronto, clinching not only their first international title but also the Republic's first-ever win at the event. For Copenhagen and Los Angeles. Third time's the charm. #VALORANTMasters — Paper Rex (@pprxteam) June 22, 2025 The latest victory follows two previous unsuccessful attempts at the Masters Copenhagen and Champions Los Angeles tournaments held in 2022 and 2023, respectively, which saw Paper Rex come in as the first runner-up. It wasn't all smooth sailing, however, as the third seed from the Pacific region almost didn't make it to this year's Masters with back-to-back defeats in the group stages, only finding their stride in the play-ins and play-offs. Once there, the newly minted champions eliminated tournament favourites G2 Esports, another top-seed from the American region, Sentiels, and dark horse Wolves Esports to secure a face-off against Fnatic in the grand finals on 23 June. The latter team, meanwhile, entered Masters Toronto as the top seed from the EMEA region, losing 1-2 to Gen.G Esports before staging a comeback against Rex Regum Qeon, Sentinels, G2 Esports, and Wolves Esports. Alas, the crown would go to Paper Rex, who bested their opponents 3-1 and took home US$350,000. The team also scored seven VCT points, bringing their current total to 11 points — and to the top of the Pacific Championship, ahead of South Korean teams T1 (10 points) and Gen.G (nine points). As for Fnatic, its players earned US$200,000 as consolation but remain the leader of their region. Rounding out the celebration is the announcement of Jason 'f0rsakeN' Susanto as MVP of the tournament, with the full Paper Rex roster as follows: Jason 'f0rsakeN' Susanto (Indonesia) Jing Jie 'Jinggg' Wang (Singapore) Ahmad Khalish Rusyaidee 'd4v41' Bin Nordin (Malaysia) Ilya 'Something' Petrov (Russia) Patrick 'PatMen' Mendoza (Philippines) Aaron 'mindfreak.' Leonhart (Indonesia) Paper Rex's victory marks the third consecutive title won by a Pacific team after Gen.G Esports and T1, who emerged as the respective champions in 2024's Masters Shanghai and Masters Bangkok held earlier this year. Next on the list is Stage 2 of the International League, kicking off on 3 July, and culminating in the biggest event for Valorant : Champions, taking place in Paris, France, from 12 September to 5 October. A hearty congratulations to Paper Rex! Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth's theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia's greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really. Paper Rex Riot Games Singapore Valorant Valorant Masters Toronto

'I didn't plan to cry, but the tears just came out'
'I didn't plan to cry, but the tears just came out'

New Straits Times

time23-06-2025

  • Sport
  • New Straits Times

'I didn't plan to cry, but the tears just came out'

KUALA LUMPUR: The Kelantan-born Ahmad Khalish Rusyaidee "d4v41" Nordin and his Paper Rex (PRX) teammates emotionally won the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Masters Toronto title on Sunday. There were tears after PRX defeated European giants Fnatic 3-1 in the Grand Finals at the Enercare Centre in Toronto, Canada to claim their maiden international crown. Khalish's team also comprised Indonesian Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto, Singaporean Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie, Russian Ilia "something" Petrov and Filipino Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza. The 26-year-old Khalish and his teammates took home US$350,000 (RM1.49 million) in prize money. Khalish ranked as the Singapore-based PRX team's second best performer with a 1.12 KDA. PRX, who had lost two Grand Finals previously — in the Masters Copenhagen in 2022 and Champions Los Angeles in 2023, went into the Toronto finals after a dominant upper bracket run in the playoffs. Fnatic, the Masters Tokyo 2023 champions and top seeds, however, posed a formidable challenge. PRX began with a 13-11 win on the map pick of Sunset, but Fnatic hit back with a narrow 17-15 win on their pick of Icebox. PRX then pulled ahead 2-1 with a 13-10 victory on their pick of Pearl before confirming the title with a 14-12 win in overtime on Fnatic's pick of Lotus. The PRX team became emotional after finally breaking their title drought. "This victory feels unreal, we've been working very hard for this," said Khalish in a post-match interview before breaking into tears. "This means everything. Winning an international trophy has always been the goal. We want to be champions, and this is just the beginning," he added after regaining his composure. "I'm really happy... I didn't plan to cry, but the tears just came out." PRX will next compete in the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from July 8-13 which offers US$1.25 million in prize money. Meanwhile, there will be no Malaysian representation in PUBG Mobile at the EWC after Alliance (seventh) and SEM9 (12th) failed to finish in the top three at the Southeast Asia Summer PUBG Mobile Super League in Jakarta on Sunday.

Everything you need to know about VCT Pacific Stage One 2025
Everything you need to know about VCT Pacific Stage One 2025

Saudi Gazette

time26-03-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Saudi Gazette

Everything you need to know about VCT Pacific Stage One 2025

Twelve of Asia-Pacific's best VALORANT teams have landed in Seoul, South Korea for VCT Pacific Stage One 2025, where three coveted spots at Masters Toronto and points toward the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) are on the line. With high stakes, fierce rivalries, and a packed schedule from March 22 to May 11, fans can expect nothing short of top-tier competition throughout the event. A title defense, rival redemptions, and a packed field Following their championship run at Masters Bangkok, T1 enters as the top seed, led by veterans stax and BuZz. But heavyweights DRX, Gen.G Esports, and Paper Rex are determined to reclaim the throne, setting up intense regional showdowns. Rounding out the lineup are: TALON, DetonatioN FocusMe, Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ), BOOM Esports, Team Secret, Global Esports, ZETA DIVISION, and Nongshim RedForce (NS RedForce)—all chasing the Pacific crown. Group stage format Teams are split into two groups—Alpha and Omega—and will compete in a single round-robin, best-of-three group stage ending April 21. Group Alpha: DRX Gen.G DetonatioN FocusMe Paper Rex Global Esports BOOM Esports Group Omega: T1 TALON NS RedForce RRQ ZETA DIVISION Team Secret The top four teams from each group move on to the playoffs. Group winners advance straight to the Upper Semifinals, while second and third seeds enter in Round 1. Fourth-placed teams begin in the Lower Bracket. The playoffs will feature best-of-three matches, with the Lower Final and Grand Final set as best-of-five. The top three finishers will book their tickets to Masters Toronto 2025. Week 1 results Saturday, March 22 DetonatioN FM 0–2 Global Esports T1 2–1 ZETA DIVISION Sunday, March 23 DRX 2–1 Paper Rex TALON 2–1 Team Secret Monday, March 24 Gen.G 0–2 BOOM Esports NS RedForce 2–1 RRQ Week 2 schedule Saturday, March 29 Team Secret vs. ZETA DIVISION (3 AM CT | 5 PM KST) T1 vs. NS RedForce (6 AM CT | 7 PM KST) Sunday, March 30 Gen.G vs. Paper Rex (3 AM CT | 5 PM KST) DRX vs. DetonatioN FM (6 AM CT | 7 PM KST) Monday, March 31 TALON vs. RRQ (3 AM CT | 5 PM KST) BOOM Esports vs. Global Esports (6 AM CT | 7 PM KST) Where to watch All matches are streamed live on VCT Pacific's official Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook channels, with regional language broadcasts available via local partners. Fans attending in person can find ticketing details on the Riot Games Global Ticket Page. With elite squads, storied rivalries, and Masters Toronto berths at stake, VCT Pacific Stage One 2025 is shaping up to be one of the most electrifying events of the year.

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