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Team Singapore bagged a joint gold medal in Valorant at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia on Thursday (May 11), sharing the top spot with Indonesia.
The grand final, which kicked off on Wednesday evening, was put on "technical pause" at round 15 when Singapore was leading six rounds ahead of Indonesia.
Screenshot via Valorant/Facebook
The pause was proposed by team Indonesia's deputy head coach, Richard Permana, who suspected Singapore had exploited the cypher bug in several rounds of the game, reported Indonesian news outlet Tribun Toraja.
The bug is a camera feature that would have allowed team Singapore to see the position of Indonesian players and attack them.
Before the pause, Singapore had already won the first game in the best-of-three series, beating Indonesia by five rounds.
Indonesia awarded joint gold medal after forfeiting game
On the morning of May 11, Indonesia announced that the team would be forfeiting the grand final.
According to an Instagram story posted by Juanita "Valezka" Tanjung, the brand ambassador for Indonesia in the SEA Games, the team decided to forfeit because the SEA Games committee "did not view the bug abuse as a serious offence" and "refused to punish Singapore".
Screenshot via Instagram
In consideration of this "unfavourable situation", Valezka said forfeiting the game would allow Indonesia to uphold the nation's dignity.
Supporters of team Indonesia were also seen holding up signs at the venue which read, "Integrity, dignity, sportsmanship for better esports" to express their dissatisfaction.
Screenshot via Instagram
While in usual circumstances, Indonesia would be receiving the silver medal, Valezka updated via a follow-up Instagram story around noon on May 11 that Indonesia and Singapore will both receive gold medals for Valorant.
Screenshot via Instagram
Response from S'pore players
In response, a few Singapore players took to Twitter to refute the cheating allegations.
Tidus Goh, who goes by the game name, STYRON, shared that it is unfair to label the team as cheaters when the quad had read the rules, obeyed every decision to roll back or play on, and waited patiently when the game was put on hold.
He also said the allegations had taken away "every honour the medal carries".
STYRON's teammate, Marcus 'nephh' Tan, echoed his sentiment by claiming that the team had been adhering to the rules given to them.
For player Ingram ‘FREY’ Tan, the allegations made him question his love for the e-sport.
Reactions
Despite the clarifications made by the Singapore players, many Twitter users were left unconvinced and expressed their dissatisfaction with the outcome of the game in the comments section of the players' accounts.
Under the comments section of STYRON's account, one user asked the player why team Singapore chose to play the victim rather than withdraw from the game.
Screenshot via Twitter
Likewise, under FREY's tweet, a user called him the "best cypher player with bug exploit," followed by two clown emojis.
Screenshot via Twitter
Over at Instagram, the Singapore Esports Association also received many comments criticising Singapore for not engaging in fair play in the e-sport event.
Screenshot via Instagram
One user even tagged the developer of Valorant, Riot Games, and asked the company to permanently ban Singapore players from participating in future regional and international games.
Screenshot via Instagram
Mothership has reached out to the Singapore Esports Association for comments and will update this article when they reply.
Philippines & Vietnam also awarded joint medal
Before Singapore advanced to the grand final, it was able to successfully avenge the loss against team Vietnam, which defeated Singapore by two points in the opening match on May 8.
In the other semi-final, Indonesia beat the Philippines, which was undefeated during the group stage and the top seed amongst the six participating countries.
In the subsequent third-place play-off, the Philippines was able to claim victory over Vietnam.
However, it appeared that the two countries would also be sharing the medal, just like Indonesia and Singapore, according to an update by Permana on Instagram.
Screenshot via Instagram
Top image via Valorant/Facebook