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Meet Sh1zzy from Electronic Sports Pakistan - Pakistan's sole hope at the WESG 2017: APAC Finals

Vignesh RaghuramPublished On: 
Shiraz ‘Sh1zzy’ Akter is a Pakistani, Mid Lane veteran, who happens to be the highest ranked Dota 2 player in his country. Having just qualified for the WESG: APAC Finals through the Pakistan qualifiers, he left the Portal Esports organization, one of the strongest teams in the country! We had a chat with him about why he left Portal Esports, WESG, and the bane of every aspiring Asian esports team: VISA issues.

 


Q. Hello Sh1zzy, first off, congratulations on securing your VISA for participating in WESG. Can you please briefly introduce yourself to the people who might not know you that well?
 
A: Hello and thanks, took a lot of early mornings and insane waiting time on securing that visa. My name is Shiraz, people call me shizz or shizzy; hence the nick. Hmm about me, I Started off dota 2 three years ago, finished my A-levels some months ago and I'm looking forward to studying abroad whilst focusing on my Esports Career.
 


Q. You said that you were leaving the Portal Esports team very recently, New Year’s eve, in fact, has that decision changed, what exactly happened there?
 
A: Yes I did and the decision was final. There's nothing much to it, Some contract clauses we weren't okay with and it did end on good terms.This happening on New years eve did make it look like a controversy but its all cool xd
 


Q. You finally secured your Chinese VISA after quite a struggle. Can you walk us through the process? What exactly went wrong and how did you rectify it? Your answers may prove useful for other aspiring pro players.
 
A: Oh it was more than a struggle, early mornings at the embassy and government offices for the required documents. We applied twice as the ordinary public does but it got rejected due to some requirement of a government letter which WESG refused to provide. We rectified it by pulling some strings in the foreign ministry, couldn't have pulled it off without areeb and owais of Clan VRN (csgo), we still owe them a treat haha. 
 


Q. Did you receive any help from WESG or the Pakistan Government in order to get the VISA? If not, what could they have done?
 
A: We didn't get any help. We were told, the organization (PESF) hosting WESG qualifiers are affiliated with the government and they'll get our visas ready in a heartbeat. Sadly that wasn't the case, hence the struggle. WESG didn't provide us with the required government letter but they did help us out with all the other stuff. They could've just given us the letter and things would've been much easier, I'm still glad things worked out in the end.
 


Q: What are your expectations for WESG? Are you looking forward to meeting any particular teams?
 
A:  My expectations are pretty high now, I actually gave up after all the visa struggle, if it wasn't for my mother I'd not have that visa right now. So yeah I'm all hyped up again for WESG. I'm looking forward to meeting Team Signify in person, Crowley and No_Chanc3 in particular.
 


Q: The groups for WESG have already been announced. What do you think about your group? Are there any teams you are particularly wary of? 

A:  I still haven't looked at the groups lmao, but I assume every team worked hard to be in the LAN qualifiers and the competition is gonna be tough.
 


Q: Considering it is a new year. Did you make any resolutions? What are you hoping for in the future?

A: Yes it is, Happy new year! No, I don't make any resolutions, I only hope and think of the main goal; Winning a TI and being a better version of myself every coming year. 
 


Q: Thank you so much for doing this interview Sh1zzy. Do you want to make any shoutouts?

A: It's been a pleasure. Shout out to the boys over at clan VRN for keeping me on the go in in the visa struggle. It's been real, I'm out.
 


Sh1zzy is a part of the 'Electronic Sports Pakistan' team who have finally secured their VISAs for WESG 2017: APAC Finals after quite a struggle and will be traveling to China to challenge the best of the Asia Pacific Region. Their roster will be:

Shiraz ‘Sh1zzy’ Akhter
Musawer 'Ghostkhan' Nawaz
Muhammad 'KSG' Ibrahim
Muhammad 'T1taN' Shehwar
Ahsan 'arrow' Hameed

 
See Also : WESG APAC finals : A Preview