After discovering some talent a few weeks ago in the coastal region with the likes of Fahad Ali, Safaricom made camp in the Rift Valley regions to hunt out some more. The BLAZE Esports tournament was finals held at the Eldoret National Polytechnic las weekend with three youngsters emerging as champions.

The competition that was kickstarted by Safaricom’s subsidiary, is a new initiative dubbed BLAZE Be Your Own Boss in a bid to discover as much raw talent as possible countrywide. This, of course, is alongside the goal of empowering youth to start considering eSports and pro-gaming as a career choice.

And with the growing eSports culture in the country over the past couple of years, the telecom giant partnered with two pro-gaming platforms, Pro Series Gaming and Africa Esports Championship Kenya to make this a reality.

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The tournament attracted gamers from as far as Kericho, Bomet and Trans Nzoia Counties. Eventually, after the stiff battle, Arnold Kipng’etich, aged 25 emerged as the new FIFA 19 champion. The regional tourney had Ksh.100,000 prize pool attached to it with Kipng’etich earning himself the big share of Kes.50,000.

Alongside him was  Fahim Kibet from Kericho and Moses Violu from Kitale settling for the second and third positions respectively. The two deservedly got themselves Kes.30,000 and Kes.20,000 in the mentioned order.

In a heart full of gratitude for the opportunity, Kipng’etich remarked, “I am excited for winning this E-sports tournament organized by BLAZE. With this win, I now have the confidence to compete in more tournaments and possibly take part in global competitions.”

The tournament now counts as the second round since the tournament’s launch on August 2019. With Fahad Ali still reigning in the Coast region and many more gaming giants lying in wait, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the two in the world of eSports.