Luqman Haziq Hajiman cannot wait to take on the world's best FIFA players at the FIFA Ultimate Team 2018 Playoff after being recognised as a national athlete for Malaysia.
Along with four other professional gamers competing at another esport tournament, "Fenrir" was presented with the Jalur Gemilang by the National Sports Council of Malaysia on Thursday.
"I hope this is the first of many to come," the University of Malaya student said of the honour of representing Malaysia.
"I want to continue to represent the country in FIFA in the future especially because it is what I am good at."
Luqman qualified for the international tournament, which will be taking place from January 26 to 28 in Barcelona, Spain, after undergoing a gruelling online qualifying stage on the PS4 platform.
He recorded 154 wins out of 160 matches to secure his Playoff spot, and is now looking forward to the bigger challenge.
"I think the competition will be quite even because we will be using a new format," said Luqman, who also finished second at the recent 2018 Malaysia Cyber Games.
"[Regardless] I believe I can go all the way [to the final] if I do my best.
"I am excited and eager to meet and play against my idols who have inspired me to reach this level such as Spencer "Gorilla" Ealing, who won the tournament last year."
The eight best players from the Playoff will progress to the Grand Final in Russia in conjunction with the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Seng Foo Lee
Fri Jan 19 2018
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