Article by Ken "doe" Douglas



SYDNEY, Australia -- With the recent exit of the Sydney Underground and Seoul Jinhwa from the World Final, Singapore has become the last hope for the Pan-Asian region.

Although the team has yet to play a match at the World Final, Singapore is confident as they cruised through the Pan-Asian Championship and toppled Sydney with a dominating 30-18 performance.

DOA Men’s player Chia “Tetra” Wilson is an integral part of the Sword’s success. Armed with Kasumi and Hayabusa, Tetra amassed +11 in the net points column during the Pan-Asian Championship and was recently crowned the CGS’ DOA4 Men’s World Champion with a win over Offbeat Ninja during the Individual Championships.

His female counter part, Daphne "Perpetiel" Chow, has shown the ability to adapt to adversity and looks to make a stand at the World Final. Leading into the competition, Perpetiel has been practicing with her main characters La Mariposa and Christie.

Not being too outspoken, she does believe that she is well prepared for the event, as she explains, “I'm quiet confident and hope my training will pay off.”

On the topic of preparation, Singapore FIFA 07 player Mohamed "Xtr3me3" Phirkhan has left no stone unturned in the lead up to the World Final.

Phirkhan explains, “I practice around five to seven hours a day in Singapore with my former teammates. But while I'm here at the World Final, I practice eight to nine hours a day with all the opponents I can find.”

This sort of determination paid off in the Pan-Asian Championship, where he pulled off a devastating 7-1 victory over Sydney’s Harout "haroutig10" Atachparian and set the tone for the match.

With the entire squad so focused on training, Singapore has been trying to fine tune its PGR3 department. “We have learned to communicate more effectively and have studied how the other teams play,” said Jonathan "Jonathan-Takumi" Lee, PGR3 racer for Singapore.

Jonathan-Takumi and teammate Aaron "Phenic" Aw hope to recover from their 1-8 performance against Sydney’s Dale "Morpo" Baker and James "Cam" Davey earlier in the year.

Moving onto Singapore Sword’s CS:S squad, they were one of the dominant squads throughout the Pan-Asian Championship. Look for the entire team to feed off of their leadership and intensity.

“It felt great winning the Pan-Asian Championship,” explained CS:S team captain Ghim “Squall” Toh. “We were pretty much the underdogs the entire tournament.”

Statistically, the Singapore CS:S squad was right up at the top of the pack, with +12 in the net points column in four matches. The thing that sets this group apart from the rest of Asia is experience, as Toh explains, “Probably our vast experience accumulated over the years from international exposure gives us an edge.”

General Manager Steven Yong can’t wait for the action to start, adding “It always feels great to play against other international teams simply because that is the best way to improve.”

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Singapore's first test comes tonight, December 11th, against a red-hot Birmingham team in second round play.

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