IeSF 2014 World Championships - Baku: ULTRA STREET FIGHTER 4 athletes (open section)

The only title in which South Africa has not entered its MWEB Protea eSports Team.

There are, of course, many reasons for the MSSA not to enter.

However, the rest of the athletes present are absolutely fantastic! This is going to be the USF4 championship like no other.

COUNTRY	NAME	TEAM	NICKNAME	BIRTH
Australia	Henry, Sham	Team Australia	Genxa	1987
Azerbaijan	Orkhan, Garalov	[Phobia]	sTaLK	1990
Finland	Joni, Wielert	Team Finland	Jonsai	1989
India	SARVESH, AGARWAL	Team India	SARVESH	1988
Korea (South)	SEONWOO, LEE	Team Korea	INFILTRATION	1985
Norway	Vegard, Bugge	Norge	Veggey	1988
Romania	Mihai, Ene	TeamRO	Pokeshark	1984
Russia	Stepan, Ushakov	Team Russia	Supreme	1988
Sweden	Leo, Sundholm	Team Sweden	Yagami	1991

All information provided by the IeSF. http://ie-sf.com/

IeSF Press Release re 2014 World Championships Baku

Press Release

– IeSF Board has made decision to make their event “Open for All” –

Date: 03 July 2014

On 2^nd of July, 2014, the IeSF’s policy about gender division, which separates the female division and the male division, has been brought into question. The IeSF has listened to the gaming community and has carefully considered their opinions. Upon hearing these concerns, the IeSF convoked an emergency session of the IeSF Board to respond.

As a result, IeSF shall have two event categories: “Open for All” events and events that are reserved for women. The events which were initially set aside as the male division will now be open to all genders, and the events which were initially set as the female division will remain as they were.

The IeSF Board addressed its reason for maintaining events for women, citing the importance of providing female gamers with ample opportunities to compete in e-Sports—currently a male-dominated industry. Female gamers make up half of the world’s gaming population, but only a small percentage of e-Sports competitors are women. The IeSF’s female-only competitions aim to bring more diversity to competitive play by improving the representation of women at these events. Without efforts to improve representation, e-Sports can’t achieve true gender equality.

In order to apply the new policy with consistency, IeSF has added an “Open for All” Tekken Tag Tournament 2 tournament, which was initially set aside for female-only competition. Therefore, the amended plan for the 6^th e-Sports World Championship BAKU 2014 is:

■ Open for All

DOTA 2

- Participating teams may consist of 5 male players, 5 female players, or mixed team.

StarCraft^® II: Heart of the Swarm^®

- Players of all genders can participate in the event.

Ultra Street Fighter 4

- Players of all genders can participate in the event.

Hearthstone^™: Heroes of Warcraft^™

- Players of all genders can participate in the event.

TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2

- Players of all genders can participate in the event.

■ Female Competition

StarCraft^® II: Heart of the Swarm^®

- Female event is conducted separately, in parallel with “Open for All” event.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

- Female event is conducted separately, in parallel with “Open for All” event.