Thousands packed the streets of Taunggyi to honor Yangon Galacticos’ PUBG Mobile World Cup victory. The two-day celebration featured a parade, tributes, and rewards including land and cash.
Imagine winning an esports tournament and being welcomed home as heroes? Well for Yangon Galacticos, that became a reality. Yangon Galacticos' historic victory at the PUBG Mobile World Cup (PMWC) was honored with a two-day celebration in their home country of Myanmar, and even plots of land.
Yangon Galacticos were crowned PMWC champions during the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. The full Myanmar roster took home $547,000 for first place, the largest esports prize ever won by the South-East Asian country. Certainly cause for celebration.
Yangon Galacticos
To pay homage to the scale of Yangon Galacticos achievement for the future development of Burmese esports, a two-day celebration took place. Held in the Shan State's capital city of Taunggyi, the celebration saw thousands of locals welcome their digital heroes.
The Yangon Galacticos team and their trophy were driven through the streets of the city in a parade, led by a marching band.
One of the organizers, KBZ Bank, shared the incredible images of the Yangon Galacticos roster as they basked in public adoration.
On Aug. 30, a world champion tribute event was held in the Jasmine Taunggyi Hotel, the most prestigious hotel in the city. The next evening, on Aug. 31, the PMWC World Champions were given a congratulatory dinner.
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Land gifts honor Myanmar champions
According to sponsor KBZPay, as tribute for their historic victory, the team was collectively awarded nine plots of land from Taunggyi Garden City. The nine plots of land are 40 x 60 feet and located in a high value area of the capital in Garden City. Each plot has an estimated market value of around $51,000 based on current listings for residential land in the area. This means in total the Myanmar squad was awarded $430,000 to $450,000 in real-estate.
In Myanmar, giving land as a gift is considered a cultural symbol of honor, not to mention a long-term reward. The plots of land given to Yangon Galacticos are likely a symbol to show the champions' success is not just short-term, but instead ties them to a legacy and future prosperity.
In addition to the plots of land, each of the roster was also awarded a monetary reward of 10 million MMK, approximately $47,500.
An underdog story for the ages
Yangon Galacticos' success at the PMWC at the Esports World Cup was a bolt of lightning that has had a profound effect on the esports scene in Myanmar. The organization's track record prior to the PMWC was unremarkable, yet the stars aligned when they found themselves in the Grand Finals.
The Myanmar team started out rough with only 1 kill in the opening match to finish 12th. Yet, when the second game came around they secured 12 kills and a win. From there, Yangon Galacticos took three more wins in the Grand Finals to catapult them to the top of the leaderboard to finish with 157 points. Their closest rival were favourites Weibo Gaming, who finished 2nd after trailing 15 points. Weibo managed 44 kills, compared to the champions 62.
ID | Name |
|---|---|
| Marnett | Soung Wai Phyo |
| Romeo | Khant Zaw Hein |
| SAYCLOUD | Kaung Khant Aung |
| Smile | Swan Wint Maung |
It was an underdog story for the ages, especially as Yangon Galacticos were an open qualifier team to begin with. Plus, the team was only formed in December of last year. On top of that, Yangon Galacticos were one of only four organizations at the entire Esports World Cup who competed in just 1 title out of the 23, but who still came out as champions. An incredible story.
