Dreams sometimes start in the most unlikely places - for example, a stuffy basement Internet bar in Shaoyang, a small city in Central China's Hunan province, where rebellious teenagers hang out after school.
Â
Zhang Ning, aka xiao8, his ID in the online game community, was once one of these "hooligans" as he immersed himself in the virtual cyber-world as an escape from his parents and the challenges posed by real life.
Â
However, Zhang didn't become a stereotypically idle Internet addict. Instead, the 24-year-old is one of China's best-known players of electronic games after winning the International Dota2 Championships with his team, Newbee, in July, and bagging a sizable share of the $5 million purse, more than double the sum earned by retired tennis ace Li Na when she won the Australian Open.
Â
"Thanks to my involvement in competitive electronic gaming, I channeled my video game addiction into something positive, something I could work hard for as a career path," said Zhang, who recently announced a career break after getting married.
Â
The game Dota2 is a "multiplayer online battle arena", where two teams of five players defend their "ancients", or fortresses, from their opponents. The championship, hosted by the game's developer, Valve Software in Seattle, was the highest-profile MOBA tournament in e-sports' history, and offered a record $10 million in total prize money.
Â
Zhang's rise from a typical diaosi, an insignificant person, to accomplished gamer reflects the recent transformation of e-sports from a recreational tool with negative connotations to widespread acceptance by mainstream culture. It can also provide well-paid, if usually short-lived, careers for elite players against the backdrop of China's booming video game industry and the evolution of information technology.
Â
At the National Electronic Sports Open, which concluded on Sunday, more than 70,000 fans crammed into the Qingdao International Convention Center to watch 15 provincial clubs compete in six individual and team events, including Dota2, League of Legends, Warcraft 3, and NBA2K Online.
.gif)
Dreams sometimes start in the most unlikely places - for example, a stuffy basement Internet bar in Shaoyang, a small city in Central China's Hunan province, where rebellious teenagers hang out after school.
