QueenArrow

Last updated
QueenArrow
Sylvia "QueenArrow" Gathoni (cropped).jpg
QueenArrow in 2021
Current team
TeamUYU
Game Tekken
Personal information
BornSylvia Gathoni Wahome [1]
(1998-07-05) 5 July 1998 (age 24) [2] [3]
NationalityKenyan
Career information
Games
Playing career2017–present
Team history
2018–2019XiT Woundz
2020Brutal Democracy
2021–UYU

Sylvia Gathoni Wahome (born 5 July 1998), better known online as QueenArrow, is a Kenyan esports player and content creator. She began her competitive career in 2017 and specialises in fighting games, primarily in the Tekken series. In 2018, she became the first woman in East Africa to be signed by a professional esports team when she joined American organisation XiT Woundz (now known as XiT Gaming).

Contents

Early life

Gathoni began playing video games at the age of three, having been influenced by her older brother and cousin. [4] She enjoyed playing games such as Super Mario , Contra and Tapper , but later gravitated towards fighting games, in particular Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter . She was introduced to Tekken after her father bought her a PlayStation 2 console. [2] [5]

Career

In 2017, Gathoni began her competitive career with the Mortal Kombat XL tournament at the inaugural edition of the East African Gaming Convention, finishing in fourth place. [6] [5] In January 2018, Gathoni began competing in a local Tekken league known as the Tekken 254 Circuit (now known as the Savanna Circuit), ranking nineteenth and seventeenth overall in Seasons One and Two, respectively. [7]

In May 2018, Gathoni was signed by XiT Woundz (now known as XiT Gaming), an esports organisation based in New Jersey, becoming the first Kenyan and the first woman in East Africa to be signed by a professional esports team. [8] [9]

In October 2019, Gathoni earned her first major tournament win at the Nyeri leg of the Safaricom Blaze Esports Tour. [10] In January 2020, Gathoni left XiT Woundz to join British team Brutal Democracy. She announced her departure from the team in August the same year. [11]

In February 2021, American esports team UYU announced the signing of Gathoni as part of their content team. [12] In October 2021, Gathoni graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. [13] [14]

In June 2022, Gathoni was named in the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 class of 2022. [15] On 17 October 2022, Gathoni was unveiled as a sponsored Red Bull athlete, becoming the first Kenyan athlete of any discipline to do so. [16]

Tournament record

Tekken 254 Circuit / Savanna Circuit

Appearances by year, season and tournament
DateTournamentGameLocationPlaceRef
Season One
27 January 2018Round One Tekken 7 Flag of Kenya.svg Nairobi, KenyaT-12th [17]
17 February 2018Round TwoT-12th [18]
10 March 2018Round ThreeT-12th [19]
31 March 2018Final RoundT-12th [20]
Season Two (Premier Division)
7 July 2018Qualifier One Tekken 7 Flag of Kenya.svg Nairobi, Kenya18th [21]
21 July 2018Qualifier Two18th [22]
4 August 2018Qualifier Three15th [23]
Season Three (Premier Division)
26 January 2019Qualifier One Tekken 7 Flag of Kenya.svg Nairobi, Kenya20th [24]
23 February 2019Qualifier Two17th [25]
23 March 2019Qualifier Three16th [26]
4 May 2019Qualifier Four13th [27]
8 June 2019Qualifier Five17th [28]
6 July 2019Qualifier Six17th [29]
Season Four
25 January 2020Qualifier One Tekken 7 Flag of Kenya.svg Nairobi, KenyaT-17th [30]
29 February 2020Qualifier TwoT-7th [31]
Final rankings by year and season
YearSeasonGameRankRef
2018Season One Tekken 7 19th [32]
Season Two (Premier Division)17th [33]
2019Season Three (Premier Division)19th [34]

Other

YearTournamentGameLocationPlaceRef
2017East African Gaming Convention Mortal Kombat XL Flag of Kenya.svg Nairobi, Kenya4th [6]
2019 Safaricom Blaze Esports Tour (Nyeri) Tekken 7 Flag of Kenya.svg Nyeri, Kenya1st [10]
2021 Red Bull Hit the Streets Tekken 7 Flag of South Africa.svg Johannesburg, South Africa5th [35]
2022 CANOC Esports Series Tekken 7 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe5th (Mixed Event) [36]
2022 CANOC Esports Series Tekken 7 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe1st (Women's Event) [37]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major League Gaming</span> Professional esports organization

Major League Gaming Corp. (MLG) is a professional esports organization. MLG is headquartered in New York City, New York and was founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the United States and Canada. The Boost Mobile MLG Pro Circuit was a television broadcast of Halo 2 MLG tournaments in 2006 and 2007, ESPN.com, and other broadband sites. The company has also been involved in television production, and game development. MLG's aim is to elevate computer and console game tournaments to viable competitive and spectator events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution Championship Series</span> Annual United States fighting game tournament

The Evolution Championship Series, commonly known as Evo, is an annual esports event that focuses exclusively on fighting games. The tournaments are completely open and use the double elimination format. As with Super Battle Opera, contestants travel from all over the world to participate, most notably from Japan. The first Evolution was originally held as a Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2 tournament called the Battle by the Bay. It changed its name to Evo in 2002. Every successive tournament has seen an increase of attendees. It has been held at various venues across the Las Vegas Valley since 2005. As of 2021, the event is jointly owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment and the Endeavor esports venture RTS.

The International (<i>Dota 2</i>) Annual Dota 2 tournament

The International is an annual world championship tournament for the five-on-five esports video game Dota 2. Produced by the game's developer Valve, the International is the final event of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) and consists of 20 teams: 12 based on final results from the DPC; six from North America, South America, Southeast Asia, China, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe regional leagues; and two from last-chance qualifiers. The International was first held at Gamescom in 2011 to promote the game's release. It was then held annually in Seattle, where Valve is headquartered, until it began to be hosted internationally again starting with The International 2018.

The fighting game community, often abbreviated to FGC, is a collective of video gamers who play fighting games such as Marvel vs. Capcom, Mortal Kombat, Soulcalibur, Street Fighter, Guilty Gear, The King of Fighters, Blazblue, Super Smash Bros., Tekken, Dead or Alive, Samurai Shodown, and many others. The fighting game community started out small in the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s referred to as the grassroots era, but it has grown to a larger scale in the 2010s, with many tournaments being held around the world. This is predominantly due to the rise of esports and digitized viewing habits on live streaming sites such as Twitch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">League Championship Series (esports)</span> Professional League of Legends esports league

The League Championship Series (LCS) is the top level of professional League of Legends in the United States and Canada. The esports league is run by Riot Games and has ten franchise teams. Each annual season of competition is divided into two splits, spring and summer, which conclude with a double-elimination tournament between the top eight teams. At the end of the season, the winner, runners-up and third-place team of the summer playoffs qualify for the annual League of Legends World Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capcom Cup</span>

Capcom Cup is an annual fighting game tournament specifically focused on the Street Fighter series. The event's first incarnation was in 2013 which featured Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition version 2012, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Street Fighter X Tekken version 2013 as the three main games each with 8 qualifiers. In 2014, Capcom Cup was an Ultra Street Fighter IV exclusive tournament with 16 qualifiers. The 2015 Capcom Cup was doubled to a 32-man format. The series of qualifying events for the tournament are known as the Capcom Pro Tour and include many of the largest, most prestigious pre-existing fighting game tournaments such as Evolution Championship Series and DreamHack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team SoloMid</span> Professional esports organization based in the United States

Team SoloMid (TSM) is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in League of Legends, Dota 2, Apex Legends, Valorant, Hearthstone, Super Smash Bros., Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, Battlegrounds Mobile India, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, Magic: The Gathering Arena, and chess. The organization previously had a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team based in Denmark that later became Astralis and also briefly owned an Overwatch team.

The video game industry is a young industry in Kenya. Though various start-up companies have appeared in the country since 2007, the existing businesses are dealing with funding issues and few successes have been made. However, shared spaces, support programs and government grants introduced over the past few years have allowed the industry to grow large in a short period of time. The introduction of broadband internet in 2009 spawned a generation of young ICT savvy people in the country and the Kenyan game industry is as of 2015 among the largest in Africa.

<i>League of Legends</i> Champions Korea Professional video game competition

League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) is the primary competition for League of Legends esports in South Korea. Contested by ten teams, the league runs two seasons per year and serves as a direct route to qualification for the annual League of Legends World Championship. The LCK is administered in cooperation between Riot Games and KeSPA.

<i>League of Legends</i> EMEA Championship Professional League of Legends esports league

The League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) is the professional League of Legends esports league run by Riot Games in the EMEA region, in which ten teams compete. Each annual season of play is divided into two splits, spring and summer, both consisting of nine weeks of round-robin tournament play, which then conclude with play-off tournaments between the top six teams. At the end of the season, the top performing teams qualify for the annual League of Legends World Championship. The LEC represents the highest level of League of Legends play in the EMEA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OG (esports)</span> Esports organisation

OG is a professional esports organisation based in Europe. Formed in 2015, they are best known for their Dota 2 team who won The International 2018 and 2019 tournaments. They also have a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Shock</span> American professional esports team

The San Francisco Shock are an American professional Overwatch esports team based in San Francisco, California. The Shock compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, the San Francisco Shock is one of the twelve founding members of the OWL and is one of three professional Overwatch teams in California. The team is owned by Andy Miller, co-owner of the Sacramento Kings and NRG Esports. The Shock have won three midseason tournament titles, qualified for three season playoffs, won two back-to-back OWL Grand Finals, making them one of the most accomplished franchises in OWL history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston Outlaws</span> American professional esports team

The Houston Outlaws are an American professional Overwatch esports team based in Houston, Texas. The Outlaws compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Mayhem</span> American professional esports team

Florida Mayhem is an American professional Overwatch esports team based in Miami and Orlando, Florida. The team competes in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West Division. Founded in 2017, Florida Mayhem is one of the league's twelve founding members and is owned and operated by Florida-based esports organization Misfits Gaming and CEO Ben Spoont. The organization also ran Mayhem Academy, an academy team for the Mayhem that competed in Overwatch Contenders. The Mayhem made their first season playoffs appearance in franchise history in the 2020 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bren Esports</span> Professional Esports organization based in the Philippines

Bren Esports is a Southeast Asian professional esports organization based in the Philippines. It has competitive teams in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, CS:GO, PUBG, League of Legends, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Clash Royale, Arena of Valor, Rules of Survival, Valorant, and Tekken 7. In the Philippine esports league The Nationals, the team competes as Bren EPro. The organization was founded on 16 August 2017 by Bernard "Bren" Chong who is part of the Chong clan that owns World Balance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tekken Master</span> Bahraini professional esports player

Sayed Hashem Ahmed, better known as Tekken Master, is a professional esports player. He is largely credited with popularizing the esports industry in the Persian Gulf.

The 2021 Atlanta Reign season was the Atlanta Reign's third season in the Overwatch League and the team's third under head coach Brad "Sephy" Rajani. The team qualified for three of the four midseason tournaments but fell short of reaching the finals each time. For the third consecutive season, the team qualified for the season playoffs. The Reign appeared in the 2021 Grand Finals, the franchise's first Grand Finals appearance, but lost to the Shanghai Dragons, 0–4. Rookie damage player Oh "Pelican" Se-hyun was named the league's Rookie of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WePlay Ultimate Fighting League</span> Mixed Esports Fighting League based in Ukraine and US

WePlay Ultimate Fighting League (WUFL) is a fighting game esports league. Supported titles:Tekken 7, Soulcalibur VI.

Maximillian Miles Christensen, best known under the alias Maximilian Dood, is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer. Considered a prominent figure in the fighting game community, Christensen primarily makes video content on various fighting games, such as Street Fighter,Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct. He is also known for his grassroots efforts to organize fighting game tournaments along with his campaigns to revive various fighting game series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippines national esports team</span>

The Philippines national esports team represents the Philippines in international esports tournaments. It is organized under the Philippine Esports Organization.

References

  1. ↑ Mithika, Boniface (1 May 2021). "Rising wave: Gamers setting pace in a brave new world" . The Standard . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Zhang, Yinan (9 July 2021). "专访肯尼亚电竞女皇 ：打破女性偏见前，会用拳头一直战斗". Core Esports (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  3. ↑ Gathoni, Sylvia [@MalikaSiheme98] (7 July 2021). "Birthday cake two days later...Going through my #CobraKai phase rn... Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy!🥳💯👌🏾" (Tweet). Retrieved 16 November 2021– via Twitter.
  4. ↑ Kariuki, Collins (5 November 2020). "Kenya: The Feels and Thrills of Online Video Gaming". Daily Nation . AllAfrica.com . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  5. 1 2 Makena, Winnie (14 March 2020). "Move it: The gaming lawyer". Eve Woman . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  6. 1 2 Kasuku, Maureen (9 August 2019). "eSports: Pro-Gamers Hall of Fame". KenyaBuzz. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  7. ↑ Wright, Sam (23 November 2020). "Meet the Kenyan law student making a name for herself in gaming". Red Bull . Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  8. ↑ "First recruited Female Esports Pro Gamer in Kenya and East Africa". Gaming for Kenya. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  9. ↑ Munnik, Jo (3 December 2020). "Esports is on the rise in Africa and these two Kenyans are leading the charge". Inside Africa. CNN . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  10. 1 2 Waweru, Dennis (23 October 2019). "Ladies Battle it Out At Safaricom Blaze E-Sports Tournament in Nyeri". Gadgets Africa. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "Tekken Pro Gamer Queen Arrow Leaves Brutal Democracy". The AfroGamer. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  12. ↑ "QueenArrow joins UYU". TEKKEN 254. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  13. ↑ Thomas, Tess (6 August 2020). "Sylvia Gathoni, aka QueenArrow: Kenya's gamer-slash-lawyer". Assembly . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  14. ↑ Gathoni, Sylvia [@MalikaSiheme98] (27 October 2021). "Just picked up my graduation gown. Friday, I officially graduate with my L.L.B. Saturday, I celebrate ✌🏾😅🤩" (Tweet). Retrieved 16 November 2021– via Twitter.
  15. ↑ Murimi, Brian (4 June 2022). "Kenyan esports athlete Sylvia Gathoni makes Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list". The Netick. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  16. ↑ Hawkson, Leroy (18 October 2022). "QueenArrow is the first Kenyan Red Bull athlete". Esports Africa News. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  17. ↑ "Season 1 - Round 1 Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  18. ↑ "Season 1 - Round 2 Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  19. ↑ "Season 1 - Round 3 Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  20. ↑ "Season 1 - EAGC Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  21. ↑ "Season 2 - Qualifier 1 Brackets (Premier)" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  22. ↑ "Season 2 - Qualifier 2 Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  23. ↑ "Season 2 - Qualifier 3 Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  24. ↑ "Season 3 - Qualifier 1 Brackets (Premier)" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  25. ↑ "Season 3 - Qualifier 2 Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  26. ↑ "Season 3 - Qualifier 3 Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  27. ↑ "Season 3 - Qualifier 4 Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  28. ↑ "Season 3 - Qualifier 5 Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  29. ↑ "Season 3 - Qualifier 6 Brackets" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  30. ↑ "Savanna FGC 2020: Qualifier 1 (TEKKEN 254 Circuit / Kenya Kombat Circuit) | Standings". Smash.gg. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  31. ↑ "Savanna FGC 2020: Qualifier 2 (TEKKEN 254 Circuit / Kenya Kombat Circuit) | Standings". Smash.gg. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  32. ↑ "Season 1 - Overall rankings" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  33. ↑ "Season 2 - Premier Division - Overall rankings" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  34. ↑ "Season 3 - Premier Division - Overall rankings" (PDF). TEKKEN 254. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  35. ↑ Wright, Sam (27 September 2021). "Read all about the hard-hitting action from Red Bull Hit The Streets". Red Bull . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  36. ↑ "Sylvia Gathoni on Instagram: "Welp. 5th place out of 15 players in the mixed Tekken event and winning best female player ain't too bad for my third international tourney. I get to bring home the gold and glory🥇 Praise be to the Most High. A huge thank you to the team over at @canocsport and @ggic_gigagames for making this event possible and inviting me over to Guadeloupe to participate. It was a memorable experience and one that I will remember 💯✨ #thequeenarrow #uyucrew #caribbean #canoc #canocesportsseries #gigagamesguadeloupe #kenya #kenyangamer #kenyangamers #kenyangaming #254 #254gamer #254gamers #254gaming #254gamingcommunity #thisisthenewafrica"". Instagram. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
  37. ↑ "Sylvia Gathoni on Instagram: "Welp. 5th place out of 15 players in the mixed Tekken event and winning best female player ain't too bad for my third international tourney. I get to bring home the gold and glory🥇 Praise be to the Most High. A huge thank you to the team over at @canocsport and @ggic_gigagames for making this event possible and inviting me over to Guadeloupe to participate. It was a memorable experience and one that I will remember 💯✨ #thequeenarrow #uyucrew #caribbean #canoc #canocesportsseries #gigagamesguadeloupe #kenya #kenyangamer #kenyangamers #kenyangaming #254 #254gamer #254gamers #254gaming #254gamingcommunity #thisisthenewafrica"". Instagram. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.