Saint Lucian e-sports talent was represented at the Regional GrudgeKon Tournament held in Bridgetown, Barbados, on August 30 and 31. The event brought together gamers from around the region, focusing on the popular fighting titles Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Street Fighter 6. This competition also served as a rematch of sorts, following the Super Salty Flakes x Champions tournament held in Saint Lucia in April.
Team Saint Lucia featured fierce competitors, facilitated by the gaming group MosManiakal Gaming. The contingent engaged in virtual combat with opponents from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago as well as top Barbadian talent.
The eventual top three performers at the tournament were:
1st – Michael Shanker (KingArc), Barbados
2nd – Christopher Blackman (MouseRat), Barbados
3rd – Caleb Robert (KANEKI), Trinidad and Tobago
Following the competition, St Lucia Times spoke to Jovan Anthony (gamertag: Tohsaka) about his experience. Anthony had previously secured an impressive fourth-place finish during the April event in Saint Lucia. “Tohsaka” was unable to secure as high a finish this time around, but still indicated that the experience was a fruitful one.
“Saint Lucia is relatively underdeveloped in competitive Smash Bros compared to our counterparts in Trinidad and Barbados, but we do have some skilled players such as myself, as well as Ron Debique (gamertag: Flake King),” he noted.
“The two favourites going into this tournament were Bajan players KingArc and MouseRat, who are internationally recognised players even in the US, so while we were going in with the intention of winning the event, a podium finish of third place was definitely a more realistic goal. However, we ended up coming just short of that, with myself finishing fifth and Ron finishing fourth. Joshua Soomer- James (gamertag: M!nim) and Cecil James (gamertag: Feellog) also both placed ninth.”
“The highlight for team Saint Lucia was definitely when I had beaten Trinidad’s KANEKI in the winners’ bracket. As the weekend progressed, he seemed to be unstoppable even against Barbados’ KingArc, who was the favourite to win the tournament, but I managed to defeat the Trinidadian and knock him out of the winners’ bracket.”
Anthony further indicated that the tournament was a true opportunity for exposure for the group, noting, “The tournament definitely helped to expose us to our Bajan counterparts. Trinidad, Barbados and Saint Lucia have a close relationship with regards to Smash, and being able to travel and show our faces to some of the organisation heads, as well as the greater Bajan scene, was definitely a boost to the cause.“Our locally made documentary movie about the previous event held in Saint Lucia has already garnered almost 900 views on YouTube and has already propelled our names, so this event has only served to solidify that.”
The gaming group believes further support is needed to grow this multibillion-dollar industry in Saint Lucia.
Notably, the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports has already kick-started an alternative sports programme that caters to the development of e-sports athletes and other non-traditional sporting disciplines.
