RIYADH — Charity esports festival Gamers Without Borders wrapped-up four days of action-packed esports competition on Tom Clancy"s Rainbow Six: Siege with the crowning of Brazilian outfit FURIA Esports as the tournament’s Latin American champions, team TSM as North America victors, and Saudi Arabia’s Osh-Tekk Warriors as the top-dogs in the Middle East & Europe. The three concurrent tournaments allowed for a host of winners and a massive $1.5million total charity fund going to multiple charities around the world leading the fight against the COVID-19 — and a fire line-up of gamers! Those included the likes of King George, Halifax, DanucD, Fabian, Beaulo, Mongraal, NateHill, TannerSlays and BreaK, all of whom came together for some elite level competition which, at the same time, allowed them to do their part in supporting the gaming world’s united push to support those leading the global response to the pandemic. Triumphing with a 2-1 final victory over Russian outfit Virtus.pro, Saudi Arabian team Osh-Tekk Warriors bagged the series’ MENA-region title, choosing the Kingdom’s own King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Centre as the charity of choice to receive their $200,000 winnings. FURIA Esports landed the first-place winning spot in a phenomenally entertaining LATAM contest with a 2-0 hard-fought victory against country-rivals MIBR. That win earned the Brazilian squad $250,000 of the charity prize fund, money they donated to support the global efforts of UNICEF in getting vaccines distributed in the world’s most vulnerable nations. US high-flyers TSM showed top-class gaming ability and beautiful precision in the North American playoffs to bag the position atop the tournament’s virtual podium. Like their continental neighbors, they too selected UNICEF as their charity of choice to donate their $200,000 cash winnings to, to aid in the fight against COVID-19. This tournament was Gamers Without Borders’ fourth elite-series competition of this summer’s event, following in the footsteps of EA Sports FIFA 21, CS:GO and Fortnite. Two more will take place, before the entire nine-week festival draws to a close on Aug. 8. — SG