A team of Buddhist monks from Thailand have wowed the world by snagging first place in an esports tournament, despite others believing they’d have “no chance” of scooping the prize.
The three apprentice monks, who are currently studying at a school in Thailand called Balee Sathit Suksa, took part in the Khon Kaen University-run tournament for the mobile game Speed Drifters – and shocked everyone when they came away with first place.
The news, which comes from World of Buzz, is even more remarkable than you might think, as the school’s academic co-ordinator (and head monk) has stated that the three gamers were given the opportunity to compete without anyone believing they’d actually stand a chance at winning.
Kokkiad Chaisamchareonlap said: “The novices wanted to try entering the competition, so we gave them that opportunity. However, we didn’t expect them to actually win.”
Contrary to what you might think, the Buddhist monks in training aren’t spending 24 hours a day on their religious studies, with the three tournament winners growing their love of gaming from a computer course they were taking.
Chaisamchareonlap explained: “the novices are just children, like other people their age that need to grow, develop their skills and explore their interests…. we wanted to give the students an opportunity. A lot of them don’t have that coming from poor families or broken homes.”
That being said, the young monks do devote 20 hours a day to their religious studies, leaving little time for things like gaming.
The three students have received some criticism for accepting their first place prize whilst wearing their traditional robes, but have been defended by Chaisamchareonlap, who’s stated that his team is only being targeted because they won the competition.
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