Batigol - Nguyen Duc Quang

RGN on 2011-04-18

Achievements:

Champion of EGT 2008 and 2009, Champion of KOV 2008, runner-up in IntelCore2Quad tournament 2008, one of the best PES (Pro Evolution Soccer) players in Vietnam in gaming history.
Favorite quote: To live is not to wait
Describe yourself: agile, intelligent but lazy

RGN: When did you start gaming? And why did you choose PES over other games?

Batigol: Around 5, 6 years old. My whole family was crazy over soccer and my passion toward soccer could be considered far greater than anything. I thought I could be a great soccer player in life but however my small build was a disadvantage and hence I moved on to play soccer with my hands instead!

I found PES interesting because people who do like to watch or to play soccer can apply their strategic thinking into it easily. In addition, their own favorite styles are expressed perfectly via PES, which none of the other soccer games could do better. I have to say playing PES is the way to train my reactions, even in real life situations.

RGN: Do you still remember your first tournament? How did it go?

Batigol: Of course I do, I still remember it as if it happen yesterday. It was a PS 2 Summer tournament when I was still studying in 10th class. I was in a table of 2 proA team's members: proA.Cukhoai and proA.Patriot. They did try to kick me out early but it didn't happen because I defeated both of them and topped the table.
At 1/16 round, I lost 1 – 4 in Home match but won 5 – 2 in Away match. Finally I lost to ProA.Terminator in Quarter Final round. After this tournament, I found myself more passionate toward PES. I desired to be a champion, to defeat all the best players in Hanoi. I trained PES non-stop and what I achieved was a series of cups wins after that.

RGN: What do you feel about Vietnam PES gaming industry at the moment, compared to other nations? And how do you comment about the competition between local PES teams?

Batigol: Competition level has raised up higher than before because of the introduction of PES in the whole country via PS3 machine. There are at least 2 tournaments per month organized in Hanoi that gathers almost every PES players here. This resulted in the increase in the skills of the gamers and the difference in terms of skill between top players and average players is very close.

There is no definition of “domination” in PES gaming industry right now. Every team has a chance to become the champion. In the past, 3 or 4 years ago, ProA was the best team on PS2 platform while uNs dominated PS3 platform.

In comparison to other countries’ PES industry, I truly believe that the Vietnamese are not weaker than other countries. For example, proA. Xesi at the moment is extremely successful in Germany, where people always think of as the strongest PES gaming community in the world. After watching many matches of Xesi playing against other players, I concluded that they have the same level of personal skill with us and the strategies they use are also the same. I think if we have a chance to play against foreign players, the result will be positive. Vietnamese even have some winning tricks, not cheats others do not know.

RGN: As the founder of uNs, do you have any plan to train members in the team before any tournament? And how about other teams, do they do the same?

Batigol: We always have a training day per week. 1 or 2 weeks a month we organize training between the strongest teams in Hanoi. We also open recruitment all the time to recruit potential players throughout the whole country. However, what has been keeping us together is not gaming, it is friendship. We make friends via games.

About the other teams, I do not know much but I think they train often, even when there are no tournaments.

RGN: Do you think Vietnam PES gaming industry is going fine?

Batigol: I don't think so. It has been on peak for a long time and stopped there. I preferred the situation 3 years ago where a lot of tournaments were held professionally. Nowa