[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/malaysia\/meet-jj-lins-all-singaporean-esports-team\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/malaysia\/meet-jj-lins-all-singaporean-esports-team\/","headline":"Meet JJ Lin’s All-Singaporean Esports Team","name":"Meet JJ Lin’s All-Singaporean Esports Team","description":"JJ Lin\u2019s Team Still Moving Under Gunfire (SMG) has released their roster for the new first-person-shoot game, Valorant by Riot Games. The list of players comprises of an all-Singaporean team, consisting of veteran professional players of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.\u00a0 Mandopop megastar singer JJ Lin founded the esports team, along with veteran Dota 2 player turned […]","datePublished":"2020-08-04","dateModified":"2020-11-27","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/tricia-lim\/#Person","name":"Tricia Lim","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/tricia-lim\/","identifier":71,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e1a1cd2426a2adfc25039c9612619687925cf2cec7aebcdfcc5b783f40d9872?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e1a1cd2426a2adfc25039c9612619687925cf2cec7aebcdfcc5b783f40d9872?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1596993775478_jj_lin.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1596993775478_jj_lin.jpg","height":810,"width":1080},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/malaysia\/meet-jj-lins-all-singaporean-esports-team\/","about":["Esports","Local","Malaysia","People","Singapore"],"wordCount":637,"articleBody":"JJ Lin\u2019s Team Still Moving Under Gunfire (SMG) has released their roster for the new first-person-shoot game, Valorant by Riot Games. The list of players comprises of an all-Singaporean team, consisting of veteran professional players of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.\u00a0Mandopop megastar singer JJ Lin founded the esports team, along with veteran Dota 2 player turned coach, Kenchi Yap. Team SMG won first place in TheGym MY\/SG Final Countdown: Causeway Cup, CSGO2Asia Grassroots Cup and GeForce Cup Pacific Singapore Qualifier.\u00a0Born out of his love for Dota and esports, JJ Lin brought his passion and love for gaming to a professional level, with various teams playing competitively under his belt. Team SMG was established in 2017 and is a premier esports organisation in Asia, with teams in China and Southeast Asia. Mandopop megastar singer JJ Lin founded the team, along with veteran Dota 2 player turned coach, Kenchi Yap. JJ Lin has provided support to official Dota 2 events such as the Shanghai Major and DAC Major as a guest performer and is currently heavily involved in the development of his esports teams. His aim is to bring esports to greater heights, utilising his influence in pop culture as leverage.\u00a0Team SMG gained popularity after its big win at the Arena of Valor International Championship with their Taiwan based team. In 2018, the esports company moved into Player Unknown\u2019s Battleground (PUBG) with a Shanghai-based partnership team. In 2020, team SMG announced that they had signed on \u2018Makan Cendol\u2019\u00a0 to compete in Mobile Legends Bang Bang, an online mobile battle arena multiplayer game. The acquisition of \u2018Makan Cendol\u2019 is part of Team SMG\u2019s strategic venture into Southeast Asia\u2019s competitive esports scene.Armed with teams competing in Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB), PUBG, and PUBG Mobile, Team SMG\u2019s new foray into Valorant territory is not unfounded; with the addition expanding Team SMG\u2019s esports presence in SEA, with now teams in Shanghai, Malaysia, and Singapore.\u00a0Valorant was only recently officially released at the beginning of June 2020 but has already grasped the attention of several esports organisations, unveiling rosters consisting of former CS:GO professionals. Lin\u2019s team consists of:\u00a0Captain Sha \u2018ZesBeeW\u2019 Mohtar;Coach\/Manager Kenneth \u2018Colbat\u2019 Ho;Danyal \u2018Kama\u2019 Heng;Alex \u2018falfalfal\u2019 Cheng;Xavier \u2018LEXY\u2019 Lee;Chun Ting \u2018Divine\u2019 Yeoh; andSyafiq \u2018Aeozora\u2019 Anuar.Before Valorant, several team members were former CS:GO pro players, with Captain ZesBeeW being a previous CS:GO e-athlete for Malaysia\u2019s Team XCN and JYP Gaming. ZesBeeW also captained the Resurgence CS:GO team, and played with falfalfa, LEXY, and Divine, before its disbandment.\u00a0Previously a professional PUBG player, Aeozora had played the battle royale game for four years and competed in the PUBG SEA Series 2020, alongside the Aerowolf Pro Team. Aeozora has since retired from PUBG and now focuses on Valorant.Moving into Valorant territory, the team has already dominated the community tournaments, such as BRSG Valorant Community Series and the Stay Home Challenge Breaker. They will make their competitive debut in the Lenovo\u2019s Rise of Legion: Valorant July 2020 tournament, running from 27 July to 1 August, when the finals take place. More information on the competition can be found on the Lenovo Legion website.\u00a0Lin has called the Valorant squad a \u2018milestone in my esports journey, one that is very close to my heart’ in an Instagram post announcing the team.\u00a0The Valorant team is the first Singaporean team of SMG. SMG has rosters that compete in other games, such as Mobile Legends, PUBG, and PUBG Mobile, based in Malaysia and China.\u00a0In his Instagram post, Lin also mentioned his vision for esports in Southeast Asia. \u201cLike these boys, I started gaming as a past time. But this past time evolved into my passion and global vision in esports, and I strive to nurture home-grown talent in this burgeoning esport scene.\u201d\u00a0"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Destinations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Malaysia","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/\/malaysia\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Meet JJ Lin’s All-Singaporean Esports Team","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/malaysia\/meet-jj-lins-all-singaporean-esports-team\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]