Magic The Gathering - Malaysia

18 Malaysians made the trip to Grand PrixManila, Philippines 2008, including most of the newly formed 2008 Malaysian National Team in search of fame, money and Pro Points, taking full advantage of the GP to further their Pro Player's Club conquest after winning a good number of Pro Points from the Malaysian Nationals 2008 just recently.



The second biggest ever Grand Prix ever in Asia outside of Japan with 640 (just 7 short of from the first GP Manila's record of 647), with a huge majority of the home crowd, followed by a strong 'invasion force' of 19 from Japan, while Malaysians and Singaporeans has 18 and 16 representatives respectively.

Out of the 18, only 5 survived the cut to reach day 2 play with 25 year-old IT network engineer Ken Lim going impressively undefeated on day 1. He is joined by 2008 Malaysian Nationals Quarter-finalist and 2007 National team member Adrian Kuan, 2-time Malaysian champion Au Yong Wai Kin, also 2008 Malaysian Nationals Quarter-finalist Terry Soh and Mohd Nasir Mohd Ikmal

The 25 year old former Nationals quarter-finalist Ken Lim Wai Keat brilliantly played his way to the top 8 elimination rounds but sadly crashed out on the Quarterfinals from a string of bad draws as well as a string of very fortunate draws for his opponent. Nevertheless, Ken will be bringing home a nice big fat check worth US$1,500 for his efforts in Manila.

In the meantime, everyone else who qualified for day 2 also made money and Pro Points - Terry Soh made US$750, Au Yong Wai Kin and Mohd Nasir Mohd Ikmal each will take home US$500 while Adrian Kuan will have to be content with his US$250 consolation prize, along with a big handful of Pro Points for everyone who made day 2.

GP Manila 2008 official tournament coverage can be found here.

Also, according to a forum user on MTG-Malaysia.com's forums, despite crashing out on day 1 in the GP, three Malaysians dream crushed their way to the top 8 of PTQ Berlin which was held on the second day, including Mohd Hafiz who won the whole thing. PTQ maestro Jason Yap adds another PTQ top 8 to his already long resume of PTQ achievements, along with Lo Chien Hung.

Some pictures of the event taken by a Malaysian participant can be found here.

Congratulations to Ken Lim, and the rest of the Malaysians who did well in GP Manila!