Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. announce the winners of the eFootball™ and eBASEBALL tournaments of the Inter-Prefectural Esports Championship 2022 TOCHIGI, which ran from Saturday, October 15 to Sunday, October 16 in the Culture Program of the 77th National Sports Festival: Ichigo Ichie Tochigi Kokutai/Tochigi Taikai.
In the eFootball™ tournament, which consisted of the High School Division and General Division (no age restriction), kamikami, the Kanto Block Ibaraki representative, won the High School Division, and Leva, the Kanto Block Tokyo representative, won the General Division.
Winners' remarks:
[High School Division, Kanto Block Ibaraki representative]
kamikami: "I'm really happy I won. I played the perfect match and everything went as planned."
[General Division, Kanto Block Tokyo representative]
Leva: "I couldn't be happier. After losing in last year's tournament, I was so depressed that my mental state was in shambles. I had to overhaul my approach to practice and made drastic changes to my routine and schedule. Day by day I improved and that gave me the confidence I needed to achieve today's results."
In the eBASEBALL tournament in which teams of two players compete against each other,"Professional Baseball Spirits A" was used as the competition title. The first place Kanto Block Tokyo team, Champon, consisting of Shin-chan and Yupon#竜巻選手, won the High School and Under Division, while the second place Kanto Block Tokyo team, Koganei All Stars, consisting of like and NeaR, won the General Division.
Winners' remarks:
[High School and Under Division, first place Kanto Block Tokyo team, Champon]
Shin-chan:
I'm super happy because after returning to the hotel on the first day, we actually practiced for two or three hours. I'm really glad that it paid off.
Yupon#竜巻選手:
It was really nerve-racking. In fact, I'm exhausted. I thought we were done for after we gave up five runs in the first inning, but somehow we managed to fight our way back.
[General Division, second place Kanto Block Tokyo team, Koganei All Stars]
like:
I'm on cloud nine! I wasn't really able to take advantage of scoring situations, but I made up for it with my pitching. (To YouTube viewers) Guess who won! ME!!
NeaR:
(To like) Thanks for sticking it out with me! And sorry for dragging you down. It was a good back-and-forth match, but in the end I think great teamwork got us the win.
Konami Digital Entertainment will continue to deliver the fun of esports to its customers through its esports initiatives.
[About KONAMI's esports initiatives]
The eFootball™ series of soccer games has been supported by many customers over the years since its birth in 1995 as the console title Winning Eleven. The eFootball™ series continues to gather attention as competition titles both in Japan and abroad, being featured in exhibition matches at the 18th Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang, and being included as part of the Culture Program at the 74th National Sports Festival of Japan, as well as the Iki-iki Ibaraki Yume Kokutai, Inter-Prefectural Esports Championship 2020 KAGOSHIMA and Inter-Prefectural Esports Championship 2021 MIE.
We are also expanding our efforts to combine esports and real sports by bringing into the fold eFootball™ Championship Pro, in which European clubs participate, and eJ.LEAGUE, in which J.League clubs participate.
In 2021, we partnered with Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) to launch the professional baseball esports league eBASEBALL ProSpi A League, using "Professional Baseball Spirits A" as its competition title. In the same year, "Professional Baseball Spirits A" was also featured in the Inter-Prefectural Esports Championship 2021 MIE, gaining attention as an esports title.
For the Jikkyou Pawafuru Puroyakyu series, we have held a Japanese championship since 2016. The series was featured as part of the National Sports Festival of Japan's Culture Program for the first time at 2017's Egao Tsunagu Ehime Kokutai (72nd National Sports Festival). It has since appeared at both 2018's Fukui Shiawase Genki Kokutai (73rd National Sports Festival) and 2019's Iki-iki Ibaraki Yume Kokutai (74th National Sports Festival). From 2018 to 2020, we co-hosted the professional baseball esports league eBASEBALL Pro League, with Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and in 2021, eBASEBALL Pro League was used as the baseball competition title in the Olympic Virtual Series, a virtual sports event hosted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).