Olympic Esports Week 2023: Jared "MontyDey" Montgomery wins Tic Tac Bow archery event
MontyDey wins in Singapore by hitting a bullseye on the deciding shot in the grand final.
Jared "MontyDey" Montgomery has been crowned first-ever Olympic Esports Series winner in Tic Tac Bow (archery).
Archery was held over a group stage, from which MontyDey, Mark "La1MJT" Thurston, David "dchan" Chan, and Takebayashi "ZouSenpai" Kyosuke qualified from the semi-finals.
In the game, a version of Tic Tac Toe but played with virtual bows and arrows, players have to outscore their opponent to take a 'square' or target. A player can score up to 110 for a bullseye.
The game involves both strategy, as players have to decide which target to aim for if they have a blocking or attacking chance, as well as archery elements like having to deal with "wind".
The semi-finals matched up two favourites: MontyDey from the USA and La1MJT from Great Britain, ensuring one of the top players would miss out on the grand final.
MontyDey triumphed two games to one in a thriller, before his fellow American Dchan saw off ZouSenpai by the same scoreline in the other semifinal.
The opening game of the best-of-five final went to the very end, with all nine targets on the board hit and Dchan seeing his timer tick down to one second remaining. However, he kept his cool to hold off MontyDey by score 520–421, as neither player managed to score three in a row.
MontyDey struck back immediately in games two and three, scoring three in a row with his first three shots. However, Dchan kept his hopes alive and sent the grand final to a deciding game by getting three in a row of his own in just three rounds.
After a to-and-fro final game, it was MontyDey who triumphed in the perfect way, nailing the bullseye to secure his three in a row.
In the third-place match, ZouSenpai and La1MJT traded the first two games in their best-of-three series. In the decider, ZouSenpai shot a 108 target to set up two different ways to win, forcing La1MJT to attempt to take over that square. However, La1MJT only shot a 104, ensuring that ZouSenpai walked away with the bronze trophy.