CONEL Cyphers on top of their game with British Esports national finals win

Gamers from the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL) have been crowned national champions in the British Esports Student Champs finals.

Five students from the CONEL Cyphers team at the college’s Esports Academy beat Exeter Academy in the national finals of the tournament at Confetti X in Nottingham on 24 June.

CONEL’s A team in the Valorant competition, comprising Sefa Mankaloglu, Daniel Ra, Emil Lusuvaliev, Cyrus Sullivan and Ermir Frashni, celebrated as they held aloft the trophy.

Valorant is a team-based tactical first-person shooter where the attacking team aim to plant a ‘spike’ or eliminate the defending team before a timer runs out. The winner is the first to win 13 rounds each lasting 100 seconds.

Daniel Ra, 17, who was voted Most Valuable Player in the tournament, said: “It feels amazing to have won. We’ve practiced hard over the year and going into the final, and it’s nice to be rewarded.

“We were a little nervous but felt well prepared. It’s funny, we knew we would lose the first map because it was one of our weakest, so when that ended up happening our morale wasn’t affected and we went on to win the series.

“Our gameplay has improved a lot since the start of the year. Mostly because we finally found a consistent group of five players. Our coach helped us a lot too.”

Ermir, 17, added: “My friend and teammate Cyrus told me about CONEL that he was going to sign up to their Esports Academy. I’ve always enjoyed gaming. It’s a fun hobby to pass the time, especially with friends. I like the social and competitive aspect of it.

“I’ve really enjoyed playing with the team. Playing in the official matches and especially the trip to Nottingham and winning. It’s been a lot of fun.”

CONEL offers Esports Diploma courses at Levels 2 and 3 along with many other IT and Computing and Digital Media and Creative Computing courses at its Tottenham and Enfield Centres.

The Esports Academy, located at the college’s Enfield Centre, is open to all full-time students at CONEL and features 20 powerful gaming PCs along with training from a professional coach.

The British Esports Student Champs is open to students at secondary schools, colleges and alternative provision schools in the UK.

Esports Coach Finlay Stewart said: “It feels great to win the final. It’s a fantastic way to end the year.

“The team has come a long way from when they first joined. Seeing the team’s development and their hard work pay off has been very heartwarming. Two of them have been here from the start, playing nearly every week, but will be leaving college this year. Whoever comes in will have some big shoes to fill if we are going to retain our title.”

Find out more about the Esports Academy here.

Apply for IT and Computing courses including Esports here. For Digital Media and Creative Computing courses click here.

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