eSports
Charlie Fripp, Kwese ESPN 7y

Bravado are your Season 1 champions for ESL African Championship

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It has been a long and hard fought battle, but Bravado Gaming has been crowned the champions for the first season of ESL African Championship.

To reach the final of the first season, Bravado beat Damage Control in the semi-final on Saturday by winning the first map (Mirage) 16:1, and taking the second map (Train) 16:6. Their opponent for the final was Energy eSports, who beat Big 5 eSports on Cache with a score of 7:16, and on Train with a score of 5:16.

Their individual victories ensured that the two teams would meet once again - but this time in the final for the first season.

To catch the matches or view the highlight, head on over to the ESL African Facebook page.

The last time that Energy locked horns with Bravado in the ESL African Championship were on 28 June during the second last group stage match. Energy came out on top in that matchup.

With Energy beating Bravado in their group stage game rather convincingly, it could have instilled a false sense of convinced in Energy's ability to beat Bravado come the final. With that, everybody involved had a hint that the final game of the first season would be an epic fight for the top spot on the podium.

Bravado took the first map (Mirage) with a score of 16:4, but Energy managed to equalise by narrowly beating Bravado on Cobblestone with a nail-biting score of 19:15.

Sensing Energy's willingness and drive for the victory, Bravado kicked it up a notch to reclaim the lead by winning by winning the third map (Inferno) with an easy 16:6. With the overall score of 2-1 stacked against Energy, Bravado needed one more win to clinch the victory - until Energy can put a stop to it.

With both teams sensing the importance of the fourth map, it turned out to be one of the hardest-fought battles that the ESL African Championship has ever seen. When the dust finally settled on the keyboards, the score on Overpass was 18:22 in favour of Bravado - making them the ESL African Championship Season One winners.

"We are your ESL Africa Season 1 #CSGO CHAMPIONS after taking down Energy eSports 3-1 and the first ever ESL event to be hosted on the African continent. Thank you to everyone for all the support and the gentlemen at Kwese TV | Kwesé Gamer for running an awesome show! Well played to Energy for an awesome series," Bravado Gaming wrote on their Facebook page.

After the match, Energy eSports took the loss in their stride.

"We lose out to Bravado Gaming in the ESL Africa Season One Final 1-3 on the night. A hard fought contest and great CS from both teams. Thanks everyone for the continued support!" the team wrote on their Facebook page.

Now that the first season is complete, it would be a good time to remind players and teams that registration for season two's open qualifiers are now open.

Both the Hearthstone and Counter-Strike portions of the registration are live, and player/teams who wish to enter can do so at by clicking here for Counter-Strike, or by clicking here for Hearthstone.

Registration into either tournament will secure players and teams a spot in the open qualifiers, with the hopes of moving into the group stages. For Hearthstone, open qualifiers will be held on 19 and 30 July.

It is important to note that registration and qualifiers are open to all Africans, and not just South Africans.

In the first open qualifiers, nine different African nations were represented, and reached as far Algeria, Madagascar and even Mauritius. For the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive portion of the ESL African Championship, registration will also secure teams a spot in the open qualifiers - which will be held between 18 July and 29 July.

For season two, open qualifiers will be split between Southern African teams and North African teams.

For more information on the open qualifiers and how to register, just follow the link to Kwesé ESPN's esports page.

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