eSports
18:07, 23-Feb-2019
First win of the year: Shanghai Dragons break historic 42-game losing streak in Overwatch League
Updated
18:37, 23-Feb-2019
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One of the longest losing streaks in professional sports history has been broken, as the "Shanghai Dragons" achieved their first victory in the eSports series Overwatch League (OWL) on Saturday.
The team lost all 40 matches played in 2018 and went down with two losses in the new season that began on February 15.
The Dragons used to be the only Chinese team in the international league, giving the impression that Chinese teams are weak.
This year they were joined by the Chengdu Hunters, Guangzhou Charge and Hangzhou Spark. And fans were guessing which one of the three teams would lose first to the Dragons.
Turned out the Chinese are not so bad at playing the video game Overwatch. On the first day, Spark player Xu "Guxue" Qiulin proved that a team can win with a Chinese player on board. The next day, Hunters won their match with all six players being Chinese.
On Saturday, the Shanghai Dragons finally won its match 3:1 against Boston Uprising. But the roster is composed of seven non-Chinese players.
The initial roster of Shanghai Dragons on Feb. 23 /Screenshot from Bilibili
The initial roster of Shanghai Dragons on Feb. 23 /Screenshot from Bilibili
Among the players was Kim "Geguri" Seyeon, the only female player in the league for now.
"The dragon's awake," fans spammed the comment sections on various Chinese live-streaming websites.
"We are witnessing history," they also said.
Live comments seen on the live-stream /Screenshot from Bilibili
Live comments seen on the live-stream /Screenshot from Bilibili
Fans burst into tears after the victory /Screenshot from Bilibili
Fans burst into tears after the victory /Screenshot from Bilibili
Li "Muzi" Dong, the broadcaster of the Chinese OWL livestream who promised to get married after seeing a Dragons victory, sent his congratulations on Weibo and said he may have to pause on commentating about the OWL for a week.
Muzi is one of the earliest Overwatch coaches in China who has been working around the video game for more than two years.
Muzi (R) reacts to Shanghai Dragons' victory in the live-stream /Screenshot from Bilibili
Muzi (R) reacts to Shanghai Dragons' victory in the live-stream /Screenshot from Bilibili
"Today is the day!" said Muzi.
The manager of Dragons, nicknamed "Van," replied to Muzi: "Finally you can get married."