2018 / 12 / 14

A Deadly Shot!  Sunny Represents Taiwan

in an International Tournament

​Reported by Newtalk Journalist Hsing-Hsiu Tsai
"ZOWIE DIVINA PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) International Women's Invitational Tournament sees advanced 48 athletes from Europe, America, and Asia-Pacific competing on the same grounds after the preliminaries. These players will participate in an offline finals at Shanghai, China from December 13th to 16th, showcasing the most professional women's eSport competition to the world."
 
The ZOWIE DIVINA PUBG International Women's Invitational Tournament took place in Shanghai, and athletes who wished to take part in the tournament filed applications with the organizer and were selected based on personal performance, viewpoints toward the game, game-play techniques, and positioning. The number of applicants from Taiwan ranked third throughout the world. Faced with such tough competition, 22-year-old Sunny still earned herself a place in the tournament.

As a great shooter with a poised and calm demeanor, many competitors see Sunny as a huge threat. Sunny has also been repeatedly named as one of the most likely candidates to win the championship. Having played video games for a decade, Sunny is passionate about shooting games. From "Special Force 2 Online" to the current "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)", Sunny has accumulated both skills and experience. From online competitions to small-scale contests held at Internet cafes, Sunny seizes any and all opportunity. Though she hasn't been formally trained as a professional eSports athlete, she dreams of becoming a professional eSports athlete one day.

From gradually accumulating her enthusiasm from online contests to finally making it to a large-scale arena like the ZOWIE DIVINA, Sunny's parents were initially against her gaming pursuit. "I've recently just graduated and I'm still job-hunting. My parents were against this when I first received word of being selected for this tournament's preliminaries. My dad often thinks that I won't have a future playing games and that I won't be able to find a job. But after much communicating, my parents have come to gradually understand the importance of this tournament, and they wish that I perform well." What Sunny's parents truly wish is for Sunny to win the championship. As it turns out, Sunny did win the Gold Medal with her teammate, Japanese representative "MAMETAS0", during the demo match before the official tournament.

Indeed, having built excellent teamwork and understanding, Taiwanese athlete Sunny and the Japanese MAMETAS0 won the Gold Medal during the demo match to the ZOWIE DIVINA PUBG International Women's Invitational Tournament.

However, this is the first time Sunny has participated in an international competition, not to mention a rarely-seen professional women's tournament. She stated, "Actually, I could tell that the level of professionalism and skills are on a whole new level from my past contests the moment I came here. I can only use simple words and phrases to communicate with MAMETAS0, and when we chat, I used a translation app on my phone. I would type and show the translated words to her, and then she would type her response and have it translated for me. It was very interesting. She's a great player with excellent skills. I would love to play against her."

On differences between the skills of male and female players, Sunny shrugged and stated that she doesn't see much difference: "I usually play with guys and I've come to be used to it. I rarely meet girls in games, and guys don't seem very surprised when they play with me because they think I am a guy, too. When I turn on my mic and talk, they would even think that I was using a voice changer." "They would even say things like, "Wow, you're so good!" or "I bow down before you!" so I get a huge sense of accomplishment. Sunny further added, "I think there isn't a gender difference when it comes to playing games. What's truly important is your character, and I think girls have only had less time to play so it may seem that guys are better. But if we spend more time, I don't necessarily think that girls will perform worse than guys in eSports."

Having attempted her first live stream videos on streaming platforms in recent days, Sunny didn't turn on her webcam. "Like the saying goes, "winner, winner, chicken dinner": as long as I can achieve great results my videos will make it to the front and center. And since I don't turn on my webcam, my audience usually presumes that someone who could be such a great shot must be a guy. When they learn that I am actually a girl, they will comment "She's a girl!" in the chat room. I actually find that pretty funny.

Currently, Sunny is working hard to collect data and information on her opponents before the tournament. She believes that she is less prone to being nervous and that she can realize her full potential onstage. Sunny has also mentioned that she has trained with the professional eSports team, Flash Wolves. "They said I was in for 'shock therapy' when I got to their base." So was she shocked? She laughed, "I thought it was alright. When I was training with them, it was my first time there after all, so my hands shook a little and I wasn't very used to the environment. But after I got more used to the place, my performance picked up and became more stable. If I had stayed there longer, they might have been in for a beating." But at the same time, the Flash Wolves athletes were also astounded by Sunny's performance and believe that she really is a formidable player. They said her shooting is steady and right on-target. She only needs to work more on her positioning and scouting. She is a true representation of "Mulan" in real life.

Nowadays, Sunny's exceptional performance during the demo rounds have made her the center of attention to many players. Since the tournament takes place in Shanghai, many Chinese media have also been amazed by this female newcomer. They believe that for someone who hasn't been signed by a team and only practices by herself, her skills are truly quite something, and they see great hope in Sunny's future. Currently, Sunny's parents have also agreed to give her some time to work toward becoming a professional athlete, and Sunny hopes to prove her skills at ZOWIE DIVINA and to earn more positive recognition.

At 6 P.M. this evening (December 14th), the formidable Taiwanese athlete Sunny will officially take on the three-day ZOWIE DIVINA PUBG International Women's Invitational Tournament. There will be five rounds of offline games each day, and rankings will be assigned based on accumulated points. Check out Taiwanese representative Sunny's stellar performance on the following live broadcast websites, and cheer for Sunny!