Unlucky Kenyan esports ace winds up seventh in France

Kenya’s esports champion Eric "Démon” Ngige début had a tough debut at the global stage, finishing seventh in the eLigue1 tour in Paris on Saturday.

It was a bag of mixed results for Ngige as he started strongly but could not sustain the tempo in the long run.

The KCA University student looked set for a semis berth after the first round of matches where he was second on the log.

The Kenyan had picked up a 2-2 against Chams from Morocco, beat Yagi of USA 4-2, before drawing 3-3 against IItmbs from Saudi Arabia, placing him in second place with five points, just three behind Senegal’s Dexx jr.

It is in the second round that things took a turn after he lost 3-0 to Senegal’s Dexx jr, then 3-1 to Dudus from Brazil.

In the decisive match against Romy from Ivory Coast, Ngige was set to book a top four berth and qualify for the semis with the tie at 1-1 with only 2 minutes to go.

However, an unfortunate computer error, known as glitch in esports, saw Ngigr’s onrushing goalkeeper miss the ball and his Ivorian opponent pounced to score in an empty net.

“It true that I was unlucky with the computer error. However, I am not focusing on that. I am focusing on what I can control. My biggest lesson is that I should convert my chances better next time. Because if I had done so, even the unlucky goal couldn’t have affected the outcome,” Ngige said.

IndexG Esports CEO Ronny Lusigi was full of praise for Ngige despite the results and promised to take more Kenyan gamers to global competitions.

“The results don’t tell the full story. If you look at the six matches that Demon played, he was able to go toe-to-toe with leading gamers, who have more experience than him. This is a sign that we have the talent in our country we just need to give gamers more opportunities," Lusigi told Nation Sport.

"As IndexG we shall continue sending Kenyan gamers to global competitions and we know we shall get it right soon.“

The 22-year-old has now set his sights on the African gamrX championships set to be held in Nigeria from June 16.

Ngige takes home £375 for his seventh-place finish while eventual winner Dexx jr from Senegal bagged £3500.