Singapore represented at Europe SC Impact Qualifiers

Soul Calibur Impact 2012, held in conjunction with Namco Bandai Partners Singapore and dubbed by community members as the best event in Soul Singapore history thus far, concluded on Saturday at E2Max, Cathay Cineleisure, with Jovian Chan being crowned winner.

The grand prize of the tourney was a 3D2N all-expenses paid trip to London worth S$5,000, to participate in the European qualifiers of the global Soul Calibur Impact tournament. And it is a chance that Jovian has gladly snatched up.

Long revered as one of Singapore’s best SC players, 22 year old Jovian has been playing Soul Calibur since he was fourteen. He got into the game because he “really liked its weapon-based, 3D movement concepts”, and was inspired to be the best player.

“My passion starts from there,” he said, adding that he loves competitive gaming, and dislikes people who instantly stereotype fighting-game players as typical ‘gamers’. He also plays Dudley in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.

It’s not going to be his first time going overseas to ‘rep Singapore. Jovian first made his mark on the world at World Game Cup France in 2011, and “did really well” for his first overseas tournament. This London trip, for the Soul Calibur Impact European qualifiers, will be his second time.

So what’s the significance of his latest win?

“It’s a huge step forward for me into the global scene, and I’ve always wanted to represent the nation. Coming from a humble family background, it’s also an excellent opportunity,” he said of the trip. But more importantly, Jovian’s foray into the European sphere of e-Sports is also an opportunity for the Soul Singapore community to “show the rest of the world that we are strong [and] to attract world-class players to come to Singapore to play, should the opportunity arises.”

He’s hoping for a strong top three finish in Europe, and is looking forward to beating Daggoth from Germany. Here’s a little bit of trivia: Jovian is locally known as the ‘Omega Killer’, because he always comes from the loser brackets in tournaments to beat the other reigning king of Soul Calibur V in Singapore, Raymus, who uses the character Omega.

All things considered, Jovian just wants to put up a strong performance in Europe, where 1,000 British pounds, a Soul Edge trophy and a trip to Vegas for the Grand Finals are at stake. The best case scenario is him winning all that, and the bragging rights, of course!

Finally, here’s our SCV champion Jovian’s golden shoutout to all fellow gamers: “Keep it classy,” he says.

Jovian leaves on Friday, 16^th March, for the tournament. We’ll be rooting for him from our little island!

You can check out the Soul Singapore community here.

Photos of Jovian courtesy of Edmund Yeong Photography.